My Protector, My Guardian
by StarShinobi
Summary: After season two, a digidestined is taken and rescued, but at what cost? Maybe they aren't the one that will need saving. Story with plot twists at every turn! Sorato and Takari. Can you figure out the riddles? [Ch 1 revision up 1/26/2013. Rewrite in progress]
1. It's Never Perfect

So I have begun re-writing this fic. This fic was the second story I started on this website, beginning it over six years ago when I really had no idea what I was doing. I have decided to improve the quality of the story. If you're interested in having the original in all its ridiculous newbieness, just shoot me a message.

So here it is! Hope you enjoy!

* * *

"Life is too short to wake up in the morning with regrets. So, love the people who treat you right, and forget about the ones who don't. And believe that everything happens for a reason…if you get a chance – take it; if it changes your life – let it. Nobody said that it would be easy…They just promised it would be worth it."

-Unknown

* * *

The group lay in the grass, wind blowing through the tall blades as he lay with eleven of the most important people in his life. Over the span of the last four and a half years, the people around him had quickly changed from complete strangers, to annoying acquaintances, to best friends, to closest family. His hand was entwined with that of the girl next to him, her head resting on his shoulder as they listened to the conversations of the people around them.

It was nice to finally sit in this place, this strangely beautiful world made up of living data, gazing at the stars in a reserved celebration of their victory over the evil that contaminated this now reconstructed world not a week before. He could not take his eyes off the stars above them, diamonds that seemed to shine just that much brighter without the darkness diming their brilliance.

"This is soooo soothing," said Mimi, stretching her long legs and fluffing her pink hair, "I can't remember the last time we were able to just lay here with no worries about being attacked by evil digimon."

"It's nice to know that the world is safe from darkness again," said Cody, his eyes closed peacefully.

"Until the next evil digimon shows its ugly face and it starts all over again," said Joe, adjusting his large glasses to no avail.

"Joe!" yelled Mimi, sitting up in a flash to scold the older teen.

"Don't think about that now," said Izzy. "Let's just bask in the euphoria of the impracticable accomplishment that we have achieved and not bother with contemplations of creatures with destructive temperaments."

"Huh?" said Davis.

Kari couldn't help but giggle at her friend and proceeded to translate Izzian for Davis as the entwined pair began to talk. "He really is clueless," she said with a chuckle.

"He is definitely a spitting image of Tai," he responded squeezing her hand affectionately. He began rubbing circles into the back of her soft hand with his thumb and turned his head, placing a soft kiss on her forehead with a smile.

"Oh Sora," said a male in a low mocking voice, "I could just sit here and cuddle with you forever."

Matt and Sora sat up just in time to see the show that Tai and Davis were beginning to put on for the group. The two boys had moved to sit next to each other, ready to mock the young couple. Tai had evidently started the exchange as Davis turned to him, hands clasped and eyelashes fluttering, and responded to the retired leader in his best feminine octave. "Oh Matt, I love you so much."

They both started making kissy faces at each other, causing the rest of the group, sans the couple, to burst into laughter. Matt's face turned deep red. He had never really been the type to pull public attention to their relationship. He didn't anyone had been paying attention to them. "You're just jealous because I can actually _get_ a girlfriend," he retorted.

"Don't want one," said Tai smiling, flex his right arm to emphasize his next point, "I'm wild like a mustang. I need my room to gallop free!" This caused a burst of laughter to ring from T.K. and Kari.

"How long has it been since you two started going out?" asked Mimi trying to stop a potential fight. The two had tried to hide their dating from their friends for a while. Not only did they want to see if their relationship worked before telling their friends, but because Matt was afraid of hurting Tai's feelings. Both of them knew of the brunette's feelings for Sora and Matt was afraid that when Tai, his best friend and brother, found out, he would feel betrayed. He wanted the Bearer of Courage to be the first to know and needed to find the best way to tell him. He didn't want to hurt his friend, but when an opportunity to be with the girl of your dreams comes up, sometimes you have to make a hard decision.

"Six months today," said Sora, leaning into him a little. She loved being close to him, she always had even though she would never admit it. His cologne made her feel relaxed and, though no one had ever really seen or noticed it, his toned body made her feel safe. He took care of himself but never flaunted his body for attention. His humility was one of the things she loved most about him. Ever since the day he saved her from the pit of despair that she held in her heart, she had admired him from afar. She too had been worried about Tai's response if she and Matt were to start dating, but one day she overheard him talking to his band about her and decided that it was time to stop living in fear, taking advantage of the conversation and asked him out. It was the best decision she had ever made.

"Sorry to interrupt, but it is getting close to dinner and Mom and Dad will be wondering where we are," said Kari to Tai.

"Oh alright," he said putting his hands behind his head and rolling his eyes. "See you all tomorrow. We still plan on going out to eat for lunch, right?" Despite no longer having to fight for the fate of the world, the group wanted to stay close. They shared a life that no one else could come to understand and the quiet support they found in each other was a foundation in their lives. School breaks, like this one, allowed them to spend more quality time together doing something other than homework.

There were nods of agreement all around as everyone collected themselves to go back to the human world. One at a time they said their goodbyes and went through the portals that were now able to take them straight to their homes thanks to Izzy, until the only ones remaining were Matt, Sora, and T.K.

"You want to have dinner at my house tonight? I could make you something nice," Sora asked Matt.

"Sure," he said with a slight chuckle, "but how about I cook. The last concoction you made was a little too much for my stomach to handle." He rubbed his stomach remembering the unbearable stomach ache he got from her last cooking attempt.

She nodded and began to pull him toward the portal. Just before they went through, Matt felt a hand on his arm and turned to see T.K. standing there sheepishly. "Hey Matt, could I talk to you for a second?"

Matt gave Sora a smile and let go of her hand, holding up a finger to tell her to wait for one second. "Yeah, whatcha need?"

Sore stood by the portal with her back to the pair of brothers, pretended not to listen to their conversation. "Thanks a lot for being there during the final battle. I really appreciated you backing me up."

"Sure, squirt," he said, though he knew he hadn't really done anything at all, "I'm always there to watch your back. You're my little brother and I will always be there to protect you." He put his hand on the younger blonde's bucket hat and used it to ruffle his hair in an attempt to lighten up the serious mood.

"I'm not a little kid anymore," T.K. said, pulling away from his hand and adjusting his hat in an attempt to hold his dignity. "But…do you really promise to always be by my side?"

Matt was a bit taken aback by the question, wondering where this strange insecurity was coming from. Nonetheless, he didn't miss a beat with his response. "Til the day I die little bro."

"Thanks, Matt." T.K. smiled, all traces gone of the scared kid that stood before him not ten seconds ago.

Matt smiled back and turned to Sora. The couple said their goodbyes to T.K. before she grabbed his hand again. "He really looks up to you."

"Yeah, too bad. Now there is a chance he could grow up to be like me." He smiled that half smirk that she loved so much and she pulled him through the portal, leaving T.K. behind.

T.K. began to lift his digivice for the portal to take him home when something grabbed onto his arm, digging in its sharp nails painfully into his bicep. T.K. let out a yelp of pain as he was pulled backwards and his arms forced behind his back.

"What's going on?!" he yelled to whoever or whatever was holding him.

A dark creature appeared in front of him, illuminated by the crescent moon that adorned the digital sky, his long black hair illuminating red in the silvery moonlight. He was a tall humanoid creature with pale, almost white skin and soft eyes matched the color of his moonlit hair with pupils like that of a dragon. He could have easily passed as a sick human if not for the six inch, scarlet claws that grew from his fingertips and the small fangs that were just slightly visible between his lips. "Hello Hope," he said in a voice that reminded T.K. of black silk. T.K.'s eyes widened as the creature touched his forehead with one of his long, scarlet claws, sending waves of pain through his body. It did not take long for the pain to render him unconscious and he went limp in his captor's hold, wishing that Patamon was there and not still recovering from the battle.

"Take him to the castle. Light will soon be ours." The dark creature let out a laugh as menacing as his eyes that made all of the digimon in the area hide in fear.

* * *

The two passed through the portal, laughing at the twists and turns that once cause them nausea upon landing. It seemed like so long ago that they first took this ride, however involuntary it had been. They landed in Sora's room without a sound and walked to the kitchen, pulling out some pans for Matt to cook as if traveling via digital network was the commonplace as driving a car.

"So I was thinking you I could stop by your place tomorrow so we could walk to lunch together," said Matt, pulling a small pan out of the cupboard to sauté some onions.

"Okay, what time were you thinking of coming at?" she asked picking out some seasonings.

He was about to answer when a searing pain shot through his head, the shock and pain from the experience causing him to drop the pan on the floor. Sora jumped at the loud noise the dropped pan created and was about to chastise the rocker for scaring her when she saw him, pain etched into his face and hands putting pressure on his temples. "Matt," said Sora, placing her hand on his shoulder, "are you ok?"

He shook his head in an attempt to clear his head. The pain was gone as quickly as it had come, but he still felt somewhat dazed. He looked around the apartment and caught a glimpse of Sora's computer through her bedroom door, the digital portal still swirling on her desktop. _That's strange_, he though, _the portal should have disappeared when T.K. went through._

He felt something shake his shoulder. "Hello? Are you alright?"

He snapped back to the present and shook his head. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just a headache."

"I'll go get you some aspirin." She lightly kissed him on the forehead and left to retrieve the medicine.

Matt just nodded and began collecting the cookware he needed again, though his mind was still mulling over the swirling image on Sora's laptop. _What is going on?_

* * *

Matt snuck through his apartment door, taking note the time on the clock. 11:30 pm. Great late again. He had to be careful not to wake his dad at this hour. He knew his dad was happy he spent so much time with Sora, beat sitting home alone like he used to, but this was about the seventh day in a row that he had broken his 11:00 curfew. Matt mentally scolded himself. He always lost track of time with her, he really needed to start setting an alarm on his phone.

He pulled off his shoes and quietly passed by his father's bedroom where he could hear the loud snoring emanating from behind the closed door. He opened the door to his room, causing the old hinges to creak and the snoring stopped. _Shit,_ he thought dully.

No sooner had the snoring stopped did his father open the bedroom door and stare at him tiredly. "You're late," he said dryly.

"Yeah, I know. Sorry."

His dad just looked at him for a few moments with tired eyes before he closed the door and went back to bed. _I doubt he was even awake for that_, thought Matt as he slipped into his room, changed his clothes, and into bed. He lay there waiting for sleep to take him over and remembering the night he had with Sora. They had cooked and eaten supper together, actually leaving some for Sora's mother for when she returned from work, and snuggled on the couch to watch a movie.

Sometime during the movie, the pair must have fallen asleep because the next thing he knew, a very tired looking Sora was shaking him awake with an angry mother standing over them. The one thing her mother had always told him was that under no circumstances was he allowed to sleep at their house. He had always thought that meant he was not allowed to stay the night, apparently his assumption was wrong, a notion that she decided to lengthily solidify this evening and thus leading to his breaking of curfew. Matt shook his head at the thought of Sora's mother. He was respectful to her and never spoke badly of her to Sora, so he was still trying to figure out why she disliked him so much.

Suddenly, a shrill ringing resonated throughout the Ishida apartment, waking him from a sleep he never realized had overtaken him. He shot up and rubbed his eyes. "What time is it?" he mumbled to himself looking at the clock for the second time that evening only to groan; 3:28 am. He listened to the ringing emanating from the livingroom, the factory set ring identifying the device as his fathers. He waited for his dad's door to open but it never happened. Matt could not help but feel annoyed. He would wake up from his bedroom door's squeaking hinges but not from the blaring toll of his cell?

The ringing ended and he gave a sigh of relief. At least he could go back to sleep now. He rested his head on his pillow and closed his eyes only for the ringing to restart. He growled and got out of bed, resigned to the fact that his father would not be answering. He found the phone on the coffee table and flipped it open. "Hello?"

"Um…hi Matt," said a voice, obviously surprised he answered his father's phone. "Is Hiroaki, I mean, your father there?"

"Mom?" he asked. He had not heard from her in ages. The two didn't really get along much, even after the whole digital world experience. Her voice was very shaky and she sounded nervous, as if she was at the brink of tears.

"Yes, is he there?"

"Yeah, but he's sleeping. Can I just take a message for him?"

"Um…," she hesitated, which made Matt quite nervous. His mother always spoke quite confident despite the fact that she seemed uncomfortable around him, "is T.K. staying at your apartment tonight?"

"No, he should have been home hours ago." Apparently this was the wrong thing to say and she burst into tears. "Mom, what's wrong?"

"T.K. didn't come home yesterday." The words rang in his ears over and over again. His little brother was…gone? But to where? The phone slipped from his hand and fell to the ground. He knew something was wrong when the portal was still on Sora's computer. He could still hear his mother crying over the phone and as the exhaustion in his body was replaced by fear.

* * *

Sora had enjoyed the night she had with Matt, but all she needed was to be near him to have a good night. She loved to snuggle into his warm body and just lay there. Her only regret was falling asleep and getting caught by her mom. She knew she didn't want Matt sleeping there, but Sora never thought she would react like that to the pair accidentally falling asleep on the couch during a movie. She knew that her mom didn't approve of her dating the digidestined that went haywire, but he made her feel safe. He wasn't the same as his twelve-year-old self, and yet he was. He was still the kind, collected planner who protected them from rash decisions and her from her darkness, but no longer was he the boy who attacked Tai. Her mother just could see past the fight.

Suddenly, her cell phone rang, playing one of Matt's songs that Izzy download onto it. Matt was calling her at 3:37 in the morning. She answered the phone. "Sweetie, you know I love you but I need to sleep right now."

She hung up the phone and a minute later, it rang again. "This better be important."

"Check your computer."

"What?" she asked, confusion muddling her tired brain.

"Please, I need to know something." His voice was full of worry.

She got up irritably and sat at her desk, moved her mouse and saw the portal. "What am I looking for? All I see is the portal." There was an uneasy silence at the other end that instantly sharpened her senses. Something was wrong. "What is it, Matt?"

"T.K. was still in the digital world when we left." He voice was nervous now.

"So, I don't see…" Suddenly, she knew. "If the portal is still on my computer…"

"…he never left the digital world." And the phone connection was terminated.

* * *

So there it is! Revised Chapter 1! Not a whole lot of changes here, just improving the story quality so it doesn't sound like a 14 year old wrote it. Anyway, for those who have read it before, what did you think? Like it better?

Let me know! I will work on Chapter 2 and hopefully have that out soon and I will also begin work on Chapter 23! I have been working on one shots for the past while (mahwish1, your one shot is in progress. Struggling with it) and this story kinda fell on the backburner. No promises on timelines. You all know how I work ^_^


	2. Courage To Help A Friend

Hey, thanks to the people who sent me reviews. If anyone sees something that they think should be changed, let me know and I will see if I made a mistake. I know that I hate it when people mess us character info or personality. There are some personality changes that come up later that are meant to be that way, but I always want to know what my readers think. I want to become a better writer. If anyone has questions too I love to get messages. Also, I'm sorry to anyone who doesn't like it that I use the American versions of the character names. That is what they were when I saw the show when I was nine, so those are the names I use. If it truly bothers people, I can change it. Just let me know. So, thank you for your support and I hope you enjoy.

I do not own digimon, only an idea.

WARNING for entire series: Violence, blood, torture, mild language, angst, eventual character death, and some sappy stuff

* * *

"Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgement that something else is more important than fear"

-Ambrose Redmoon.

* * *

The next day, all of the digidestined met at their usual spot so they could go out and eat. They had said to meet at 11:45, but they knew Ken and Joe would be early while Tai and Davis would be late. Around 12:00, Davis and Tai came running around the corner gasping for breath. "Dang it….we're late….again," said Tai.

"Why are we always last?" whined Davis.

"I can't believe you left without us, Kari," said Tai, regaining his breath.

"It's not my fault I said I was leaving at 11:35 with or without you and you chose the latter," said Kari, her arms folded and eyebrows slanted.

"Besides, you're not today," said Cody. "Matt, Sora, and T.K. still aren't here yet."

Just as he said this, Sora rounded the corner…alone. This was an odd sight to see as she seemed attached to Matt at the hip for the past months and they were rarely seen apart. It drove his fan girls crazy.

"Hey Sora," said Mimi with a giggle, "where's your other half?" Mimi was now able to travel to Japan through the digital portals, so she did everything with the digidestined.

"Oh," she said lowering her head, "he wasn't at home. I think he's out…" Mimi noticed the sadness on her friend's face, but didn't pursue it.

"Ok then, time to eat," yelled Davis, grabbing as many of his friends as possible and dragging them down the street. Sora looked back toward the direction Matt would come.

"It's ok, Sora," said Mimi, placing her hand on Sora's shoulder, "we decided yesterday where we're going to eat, so Matt and T.K. can just catch up with us." Mimi turned and followed the others and Sora followed her, hanging back behind the group.

_Maybe I should tell them,_ she thought.

* * *

Soon, they were in the restaurant, and Tai and Davis were scarfing down food at an alarming rate. The others were laughing and telling stories, but Sora was sitting silently, pushing her food with her fork. Only her best friends Kari and Mimi noticed something was wrong and eventually decided to make the others take notice. 

"Sora, what's wrong?" asked Kari, her eyes shining with concern.

The others stopped and looked at her. One by one began to realize that something was wrong and couldn't remember her saying anything after they had met this morning. She looked at them, considered telling them, but she didn't want to make them worry. What if T.K. was spending the night with the digimon and forgot to tell them?

"Something happened with Matt didn't it?" asked Yolei.

Everyone stared at her with anticipation. No one hurt _their _Sora, not even Matt. "Yes and no," said Sora. She saw their confusion and decided it was best to tell them. The worst that could happen is that T.K. would come back and everyone would yell at him for making them worry. "Matt called me last night and…" But she was interrupted by a tall, blonde boy sitting down and leaning his head against the table.

Sora was behind him in a flash. "Matt," she said panicked, lifting his head from the table and holding him close, "did you find him?"

"I searched everywhere, Sora," he said. If it is even possible he looked too tired to be nervous but too nervous to be tired. "I couldn't find him."

"Did you get any sleep?"

"Not after I called you."

"Wait," said Ken, "find who?"

They were all looking at Matt, but Matt only looked at Kari and then dropped his gaze to the floor. She burst into tears before Matt even said it. They all looked at her in surprise and then back at Matt. His fists were clenched in anger and worry. "T.K. didn't come back from the digital world yesterday."

Some gasped, others looked confused, and Kari cried hard while Sora only teared. "Wait, how do we know T.J. didn't just stay with Patamon last night?" asked Davis

Matt's mouth was clenched in rage. "First off, it's T.K. Get it right." It was very obvious that he was trying to stay calm with Davis. "Second, I thought that might be it too, until I went there and looked. I found this." He reached into his pocket and tossed T.K.'s D3 onto the table. Those who did not gasp before did now.

"But how? Why? We just defeated MaloMyotismon. There shouldn't be any darkness left!" yelled Cody.

"Um, people are staring," said Mimi as she shrunk down in her chair. Many turned to see what was going on with this group of teens. One of the waitresses even seemed to leave the room because of it.

"I told you," said Joe, "it was only safe until the next evil digimon came and then we would start all over again."

"SHUT UP, JOE! JUST SHUT UP!" Everyone looked at Matt who was now standing. Anger and worry filled his eyes. They all knew it would be a miracle if Sora could calm him down this time.

"Excuse me," said a voice. "You will all either need to quiet down or leave. You are disturbing my customers." Yolei apologized immensely to the manager and promised they would be quiet. To everyone's surprise, Sora got Matt to calm down and he even apologized to Joe for yelling at him.

"It's ok. You're under a lot of stress."

"You know what," said Izzy, "it's likely that he merely dropped it. He's probably wondering where it is right now."

* * *

And indeed he was. T.K. hung from the dungeon wall by his wrists and his body had shooting pains running through it. His vision was blurry but he could just make out three digimon, dressed in black, sitting on the floor. All three of them were girls of different ages. One looked older, around Matt's age, with long silver hair and eyes the color of mud mixed with blood. Her tight, button down dress had a high collar and the skirt stopped mid-thigh with a slit that went to her upper hip. Her boots stopped about an inch below her hem and she had long gloves. Both of these had metal cuffs at their openings. Another looked about his age though she held a battered pink rabbit doll in her arms. She had a full length dress with a grayish corset-like bodice with long sleeves ending in lace by her wrists. Her long, sandy blonde pigtails and grey eyes reminded him of death. Since she did not wear gloves, she had painted her long fingernails a sickly grayish-purple color. The last looked about his age when they first came to the digiworld. She had short brown hair that showed her long pointed ears and brick red eyes. Her thigh high boots were held up with clips and her loose, tank top dress ended just above them. Her long gloves were held to her upper harm with buckles. A black choker with a brass buckle fit snuggly on her neck. Each had a pair of large, ram-like horns protruding from their heads and small yet powerful black leathery wings topped with razor-sharp talons protruding from their backs. Long, stereotypical black devil tails hung through the bottom of their skirts, except for the middle one who's seemed to go through it, and dragon-like pupils split their eyes. They noticed he had regained consciousness and turned to him. 

"Where am I?" he asked.

"Somewhere," responded the middle one.

"Who are you?"

"Questions, questions," said the oldest. "If you must know, we are known as the Three Sisters. I am Enyomon. This is my youngest sister, her name is Pemphredomon. And last is the middle child, Deinomon."

"Why am I here?"

"You will serve a purpose," said the same dark, silky voice of his captor. "You will bring Light to me." He came forward and placed his hand around T.K.'s chin. "Now, where is the thing you humans call a cell phone?" He dug through T.K.'s pockets until he found the communication device. He flipped it open and said, "Ah yes, Yamato cell. That shall do nicely."

"Leave him alone!" yelled T.K. He tried to struggle against the shackles that encased his wrists, but pains shot through his body again causing him to yell in pain. The sisters began to laugh an evil yet sweet laugh and the demon digimon only smirked.

The demon pushed some buttons and then snapped the cell phone shut. "What are you gonna do to me?" asked T.K. He didn't know why but he was feeling very afraid.

"Nothing for now," said Enyomon. Her eyes glistened evilly. "Bait is not tantalizing to the fish if the bait is already dead." The demon smirked at his underling. He slipped the cell into one of his own pockets and left, the sisters followed him cackling.

"What am I gonna do?"

* * *

The phone in Matt's pocket vibrated, causing him to jump and pull everyone's attention. He pulled it out to see that he had a text message. He flipped it open, read it, and the color drained from his face before his friends' eyes. He lifted the cell up to Sora, who reacted the same way. Her tears began to flow heavy now as she dropped the cell on the table and hugged Matt tightly, who was still staring straight forward in shock. Tai picked up the phone and read it silently, shock filled his face. 

"Would someone just read it already?!" Davis yelled.

Tai looked up at Davis and gave a sad look that told him to settle down. Tai's hand began to shake as he read the message aloud. "Matt, help me…I'm dying." There were gasps from every digidestined and Kari began to cry heavier than she was before.

Tai looked at Matt and saw that his hands were clenched so hard that he was afraid Matt's hands may start bleeding. "Matt, don't wo…" but Matt slammed his fists on the table, causing everyone in the restaurant to gasp in surprise, Sora to release him from her embrace, and everyone to turn their attention to the teens again. He stood up and walked out the door of the restaurant, all eyes following his exit before an eruption of whispers. Tai stood up and looked at all of the digidestined. Before following his best friend he said, "Alright team, get ready. We have a rescue mission."

* * *

Also, because I love to do it, I have a CHALLENGE for anyone who is willing or needs something to do. Try to find the significance of the Three Sisters' names. What do you think their leader's name will be? Hint: Three sisters have the same (blank). The blank is not his name, but if you find the significance, yoy may be able to find his name too. I know...I'm weird. -StarShinobi 


	3. Unreliable

Hey everybody, StarShinobi again. Thanks for the reviews and thank you for reading my little story. Like I promised, here is chapter three. I know this story is moving fairly slowly, but I think you'll enjoy the plot of twists and turns. The biggest shocker comes later in the series, but I am going to quite ranting now and get on with the story.

P.S. I don't own digimon or really anything but an idea for a story.

WARNING: blood, torture, mild language, character death (later), sappy scenes, angst

***Thanks to Reddiamond29 for submitting a fantastic quote for this chapter. I've been looking for a good one for...literally... years. Thank you!

* * *

"Learning to trust is one of life's most difficult tasks"

- Isaac Watts

* * *

Sora followed the leader of the group as he exited the door after his friend. She was about to go out the door as well to give Matt some emotional support, but hearing the conversation, she decided to merely listen around the corner.

"It isn't fair!" yelled Matt as he struck the brick wall of the restaurant with his fist with a sickening thud. "Why does everything always happen to T.K.?"

"Hey, don't worry. We'll find him," said Tai, placing a comforting hand on Matt's shoulder. He could feel Matt shaking and his muscles were tense. _I've never seen him act like this,_thought Tai.

"I promised him, Tai." Matt was starting to yell.

Sora started to look out the door and noticed that once again, the conversation had grabbed the attention of the customers in the restaurant. She looked for the manager, but he only looked at her, shook his head, and went to the back room.

"Promised him what?" asked Tai.

Matt punched the wall again in frustration. "I promised that I would always be there, to protect him and stay by his side! I promised him again yesterday of all times!" He smacked the wall again, but this time, Tai went forward and grabbed his arm in attempt to make him stop.

_That's not a very good way to let out your frustration,_ he thought.

Sora didn't remember that, but then she recalled 'ignoring' their conversation.

* * *

_"Sure, squirt, I'm always there to watch your back. You're my little brother and I will always be there to protect you."_

_"I'm not a little kid anymore," T.K. said, "but do you really promise to always be by my side?"_

_"'Til the day I die, little bro."_

_"Thanks, Matt."_

* * *

Matt didn't fight his friends grip. "I should have let him go first," he said softly. "I shouldn't have left him alone."

"But Matt," said Tai, trying to make him feel better, "then you would have been alone and you would have disappeared. Then, T.K. would be in your position now."

Matt's heart sunk in his chest and you could see it in his face. "I wouldn't have been alone. I went home with Sora last night for our anniversary dinner." The shine disappeared from his eyes before he lowered his head, covering his face with his hair. His friend became very worried about him. The last thing the team needed right now was for Matt to go into a depressed state again. "If I would have let him go first, it would have been Sora and I there and no one would have tried to capture us together."

Suddenly, he felt arms wrap around his chest and arms from behind. He didn't move as Sora cried into his back. "Matt," she half cried, half yelled, "I am so sorry! It was all my fault! I shouldn't have pulled you through! I shouldn't have made you come with me! If it wasn't for me T.K. would be ok!"

By now the other digidestined had started to come outside and all of the customers inside the restaurant had their faces pressed against the windows to watch the scene outside. She moved her hand down to grab his, but pulled back when she felt a warm liquid on it. She looked at her hand and saw blood. Matt still hadn't moved from the place he had started, and a small pool of blood had formed by his shoe. Sora looked at his hand only to see three widely split knuckles on the hand he had punched the wall with.

"Matt," said Joe, "I know this worries you and I know we need to find T.K, but first we should go to the hospital and get your hand stitched up."

Then they all heard a sound they had never heard before, and tears began to hit the ground near Matt's feet. He began to shake slightly and eventually you could even hear soft cry. Mimi and Yolei's eyes started to water at the sight of their strong friend breaking in front of them. Many looked away, uncomfortable in this situation. Sora put her clean hand on his shoulder to console him, but, to everyone's amazement, he shrugged it off. "No," he said softly, "it's my fault. I promised."

Sora didn't know what to do. He needed her, but he wouldn't let her in. The walls she had worked so hard to break down over the months had formed once again. "Matt…"

"I got to go," he said and he walked away toward the parking lot, head still lowered and hand still bleeding heavily. He walked over to his motorcycle, a black 2005 Kawasaki Ninja EX500 (if you want to see it just copy the name into google and look at the images. Last time I checked it was the first pic) with the crest of friendship painted on the side in blue and silver, and placed his helmet on his head.

"Should we really let him drive that deathtrap with his hand?" asked Joe.

"He must be LOADED!" yelled Davis, who soon after was clubbed on the head by Yolei.

"You should see his car," said Tai running over to Matt, but he didn't reach him in time. Matt revved his engine, squealed the wheels and shot out of the parking lot on one wheel. "He's pissed," said Tai to himself.

He turned in time to see Sora fall to her knees on the sidewalk. She was shaking and crying as Mimi, Kari, and Yolei dropped to her side and tired to comfort her though they were crying themselves. _What is happening to us?_ though Tai. He whipped out his cell, sent a quick message to Matt, and went to the others. "Come on you guys. I sent a message to Matt and told him to meet us at my house in three hours. Go pack, we don't know how much time we have."

* * *

T.K. lifted his head again. _How long did I sleep?_ he thought. His gaze was met by the smallest of the three sister digimon that he had seen earlier. "Huh?" he said.

She pulled back when he spoke, and then moved forward again. She was very small, like a child, and seemed even more so when she outstretched her shaking hand to touch him. He was confused. Why did she look so afraid of him? She touched his clothes and pulled back slightly, only to touch them again.

"What are you doing?" She pulled back again and hissed at him much like a scared kitten. "Are you afraid of me?"

"No," she yelled in a small voice, "I am a big girl. Big girls aren't afraid of anybody."

_Was I really like that?_ T.K. thought as he remembered the stories that Matt and the others told about him. "Why are you afraid?"

"'Cause Daddy says that if you get down from there you will delete us all." Her eyes were full of worry. "Daddy says that we have to kill you."

T.K.'s heart jumped into his throat. _Kill me?_

"He says we can't yet though, we have to wait for the other digidestined to get here."

_It's a trap._ "Any of them in particular?"

"Daddy says we need the Light."

"Wait, who's Daddy?"

"My daddy? You've seen him. His name is Phorcysmon (forsismon)."

"My dear, are you telling our prisoner the plan." She looked down, almost afraid to answer.

"Stupid little sister," said Deinomon, stroking the head of the rabbit doll.

"Now you have to be punished, Pemphredomon," said Enyomon with a wicked smile as she removed her glove, exposing blood red nails. She raised her hand and struck her in the face with her long claws. The two older sisters laughed and Phorcysmon looked away in an attempt not to notice. Pemphredomon pulled herself to a sitting position and was…crying? Tears streamed down her face as she held her cheek where her sister struck her.

"Don't worry my dears," he said to the older two, completely ignoring Pemphredomon, "he will never have the chance to tell them." The three cackled and started to leave the room. The light of dawn was starting to streak through the drawn curtain. "Come along, little Pemphredomon. It is time to sleep."

She looked back at T.K. in shock, and then quickly got up off the floor to follow the others, her gaze on the floor. As the door closed he knew why she was shocked. T.K. was actually compassionate toward the little digimon and it had shown on his face.

* * *

Two and a half hours had passed since the incident at the restaurant, and ten of the remaining digidestined were in Tai's living room. Tai, Davis and Ken were talking strategy and Mimi, Joe, and Cody making sure they had all the supplies that they would need, including lots of bandages. Many were sitting in chairs, fidgeting with their digivices or twiddling their fingers to calm their nerves. Kari and Yolei watched worriedly as Sora paced the floor and looked at her watch.

"What if he doesn't show up?" she said.

"Don't worry, Sora," said Kari, "he'll be here. And even if he isn't here on time, we'll wait."

"But T.K…."

"That is why I know he won't be late. I'm sure he'll be here any minute."

And almost if on cue, there was a knock on the door before it opened and Matt walked in with a small backpack. His face was still grim and his hand was bandaged, but still bleeding slightly. "Matt," said Sora, looking away from him, her eyes tearing again, "I'm so…"

But she was cut off when her face softly collided with a strong shoulder. Matt had walked over and pulled her into strong embrace that he knew had always made her feel as though all of her worries were gone. "It wasn't your fault," he said softly. "It wasn't."

He backed away and laid his hand on the side of her arm. He had always done this when he wanted to comfort her, even before they were dating. She looked him in the eyes and said, "It wasn't your fault either."

His eyes told her that he believed that was untrue, but she decided now was not the time to argue about that. "When are we leaving?" he asked.

"Right now if you want," he said. "We're all ready to go."

He nodded and Davis lifted his D3 to the computer, opening the portal. The light from the portal illuminated the room so brightly that it was almost impossible to see where they were going. One by one they all walked through and the world seemed to disappear from under their feet. For anyone who had never traveled this way, this would be an almost sickening ride of twists, turns, and twirls, but for the digidestined, this was an everyday ride. When they landed, they found themselves in a familiar forest, thick with trees and vibrantly colored plants.

* * *

"They're here," said Phorcysmon.

* * *

Sorry, no challenge this time, but if you have a good reliability quote, let me know. I would really appreciate it. Chapter 4 out soon


	4. The Kindness to Care

Hey everyone, I hope this came out soon enough for everyone. I'm trying to make sure my facts all line up before I upload them. Hope this story is to everyone's liking. Like I always say, reviews are welcome as well as messages. Thank you to all who have already done so and I hope to hear from you again.

I don't own digimon, only an idea for a story. I wish I owned Matt though .

WARNING: mild language, angst, tourture, blood, sappy stuff

* * *

"How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sypathetic with the striving and tolerant of the weak and strong. Because someday in your life you will have been all of these." 

-George Washington Carver

* * *

"Ok," said Tai, "the first thing we need to do is find our digimon. They had a week to rest. They should be ready, right?" 

"Affirmative," said Izzy. "Our digimon have always demonstrated a rapid remedial capability."

"Veemon!" everyone heard Davis yell.

"Davis!" yelled Veemon. He was followed by all the other digimon and there was a grand reunion between digimon and digidestined in a flurry of scales, feathers and fur for all, except one. Patamon walked through the group of teens and searched the crowd, but he was not able to find his hatted friend. He was, however, able to find Matt and Gabumon, so he went over to the pair.

All the digidestined stopped, soon followed by their digimon, when they heard a small voice say, "Matt, where's T.K.?"

Matt turned his attention to the small pig-like creature and picked him up. "I don't know, Patamon," he said softly giving the small creature a hug. "That's why we're here. T.K. didn't come back from the digital world yesterday."

The small creature pulled from Matt's embrace and looked into his eyes and saw the worry. "He's really gone?" Matt nodded.

"Don't worry, Patamon," said Gabumon at Matt's feet, in an attempt to comfort them both, "we'll find him in no time." Patamon nodded his head.

"Ok, so now…" said Davis, but he was soon cut off by Mimi.

"Let me guess. We are going to walk…and walk…and walk some more until our feet fall off, and then we'll continue walking."

"Sounds about right," said Joe. "Maybe we should find Gennai and see what he knows."

"I know very little," said a voice, causing both Joe and Yolei to jump and nearly faint. Gennai's hologram had appeared behind them looking as young as ever. "Fortunately, what I do know is very helpful."

"You know where T.K. is?!" said Matt. Gennai nodded his head. "Where?"

"I'm sorry, but I can not tell you."

Matt's face filled with rage as he absorbed what Gennai had just said. "What do you mean you can't tell us?!" he yelled. "That's my brother out there! That is the Child of Hope! You can't just give him to the darkness and let him die!"

"Calm yourself, Yamato," Gennai said calmly, but unfortunately infuriating Matt more by using his whole name. "I know you, Tai, and Davis. _You_ become irrational when it comes to your brother's safety, and Davis and Tai have a 'shoot now ask questions later' strategy. If I were to tell you where he was the three of you would put everyone in danger."

"You think we wouldn't be able to control ourselves?"

"Well look at you now," Gennai was beginning to lose his patients. Ever since the episode with Matt four years ago, Gennai had done everything except say it to make clear that he disliked him. "You are completely out of line."

"MY BROTHER IS DYING!!!" Matt yelled at the top of his lungs, causing most of the group to gasp at the outburst. "I know Tai would act the same way if it was Kari in T.K.'s place."

Tai hadn't thought of that. It could have easily been Kari missing instead of T.K. Tai was snapped back to reality as a movement from Matt caught his attention. At first, he though Matt was going to attack Gennai, but Matt only dropped to his knees. He put his hands on the ground and in a soft, trembling voice said, "Please Gennai. We have to save him." Everyone, even Gennai, was in shock. Matt wasn't being stubborn or a complete jerk, he was actually begging for help. The loner didn't want to do it alone.

Softness crept into Gennai's eyes. He pointed to the west, "It is a three day walk in that direction. It is in the Valley of Darkness, but know that when you get there, there will be no way I can help you. Take this walk slowly; you will need all of your strength to beat Phorcysmon and his daughters."

"Wait," said Izzy, "digimon can't have daughters."

"They can if they use their own data and manipulate it outside their body. Phorcysmon pulled three emotion data strands from his body and created digimon daughters that had the ability to inflict that emotion on others. His eldest is Enyomon, daughter of horror. The middle child is Deinomon, daughter of dread, and the youngest is Pemphredomon, daughter of alarm."

"How lame does the daughter of _alarm_ sound?" said Davis to Ken, who snickered at the thought.

"Pemphredomon, for your information Davis, was the only failure he had in creating a daughter. Instead of inflicting alarm on others, she embodies it. She is afraid of everything and is very cautious. If you are to attack, just know she is the weakest link in their team."

"Thank you, Gennai," said Sora, finally helping Matt up from the ground. He scowled at Matt, and then waved to the rest and his hologram disappeared. Sora was worried about Matt. He was acting very strangely.

"Alright, let's go!" said Tai, and with that, the group started on their new adventure.

* * *

T.K. had hung there for almost a day now and his wrists were starting to hurt. He wished that he could at least sit on the floor so the shackles didn't rub so much. _I wonder how long they plan on keeping me alive. I bet my friends haven't even noticed I'm gone yet_. 

He heard the door to the dungeon open and someone come down the stone steps, heels clicking. As the figure walked, in the shadows and avoided the light that escaped through the drapes but eventually, T.K. fear subsided. It was only Pemphredomon. "What do you want?" asked T.K. coldly. "Don't suppose you came to get me down from here, did you?"

She put up her hand, pointing it in his direction, and slowly lowered it. To T.K.'s amazement, he was getting closer to the ground. Sure he was still in shackles, but he was soon sitting and all of the weight was lifted away from his wrists. She kept the shackles attached to the wall, but placed them below his waist. T.K. let out a sigh as he felt the warm blood flow back into his fingertips. She walked up to him and stood with her face two feet away from his. "What does this face mean?" she asked, imitating the face T.K. made the night before.

"Faces don't mean anything," T.K. said calmly, as if the digimon he was talking to really was a child, "but that face is what I look like when I am concerned for someone."

"What is concerned?" she said, sitting next to him, but not touching him. She looked at him with confused eyes. T.K. noticed that her horns were much too big for her head.

"Concerned means that you're worried." T.K. now knew what it felt like when he asked Matt questions when he was younger, but his answer only seemed to make her more confused.

"What is worry?"

T.K. was amazed by this girl's curiosity, and about emotions nonetheless. She looked at him, not harshly as she did before, but in a sort of awe. It felt as though he was the first person to ever listen to her and answer her questions. He thought about how to explain this to her better, and then it hit him. "You remember how you felt when you saw me for the first time?" She nodded. "Well, worried is when you have that feeling, but for another person. Rather than being afraid of what will happen to you, you are afraid of what will happen or is happening to another person."

She looked down and furled her brow, obviously thinking hard. "Then no one has ever worried about me before," she said.

"Never?"

She looked up at him, her eyes tearing. She shook her head. "But I worry about my daddy all the time. He goes out and fights other digimon and I don't always know if he is coming back. He's been talking about fighting the digidestined, but I don't know if he is strong enough, not even with me and my sisters with him." The tears began to roll down her face. T.K. knew she was on the side of evil, but he couldn't help feeling sorry for her. She was such a small digimon, yet she knew so much about the risks her family was taking to do whatever it was they were trying to do.

"So, is your dad really going to kill me?" he asked sadly. She looked at him, tears flowing faster off of her cheeks and she nodded. "Then please let me go. My family is out there, too."

This time she shook her head. "If I let you go, you'll kill me, my daddy, and my sisters."

"But they hurt you."

"They might hurt me but they are still my family and their all I have." She pulled something out of her pocket and brought it to T.K. "Here, I brought you some dinner." Since he could not get his hands to his mouth, she held the chunk of bread until T.K. was done with it. Then she lifted him back up so her father wouldn't get angry. Just as she was about to leave the dungeon, she turned. "What is your name?"

"T.K." he said.

She looked confused that his name was only letters. "Good night, T.K." and she left.

Her father met her as she was passing the Great Hall. "My dear," he said, making her shrink before even looking at him, "I told you not to feed the human, didn't I?" She nodded her head. She felt his hand hit her face and she fell to the ground. Her eyes began to tear and she cowered as her father stood over her. "It will NEVER happen again, understand?" he yelled. Again, she nodded. "Good, send the Fangmon after the children. We need to know which one is the Light."

The young digimon pulled herself off of the floor and ran for the cave where the Fangmon roomed. Tears ran from her eyes as she ran and held the burning skin on her face. When she arrived at the cave, she relayed the instructions to the leader, a large wolf digimon, and the pack headed out on their mission. "Father says to find out which one is the Light and kill the rest," said Pemphredomon. The leader nodded his head and ran to the front of the pack. He let out a howl as they me the line of trees.

* * *

"Tai, we've been walking for hours," Mimi whined. "Can't we stop and take a break?" 

"Tai, maybe we should stop. It is starting to get dark," said Sora.

"Oh, alright," said Tai. "Let's set up camp. Mimi, Joe and Yolei, you go look for something to eat. Matt, Sora and I will go collect fire wood. The rest of you can look for somewhere to sleep around here and have someone meet us back here to take us to the camp, ok?"

"Ok!" the group said in unison and left to do their respective jobs.

Matt, Sora and Tai left to collect wood and, Tai thought, hopefully talk a little. "How ya holdin' up buddy?"

Matt had calmed down a lot since their talk with Gennai, but he still seemed pretty down. "I'll make it I suppose," he said.

"Matt, we'll find him," said Sora, picking a large branch up off the ground. "We just need a little faith. T.K. wouldn't go without a fight you know."

"Yeah, I know. It's just…why couldn't it have been me instead of him?"

"Don't say that." said Tai. "I thought we already went over that. Would you really want T.K. in your position?"

"Better than the one he's in." Matt picked up his pace and went ahead of the others. He apparently didn't feel like talking about it anymore.

The three soon returned to the meeting spot and were brought to the campsite. The others had already spread leaves on the ground for everyone to sleep on and soon the fire was blazing as well.

"Where are they with the food?" whined Davis. "I'm hungry!"

"I am too, Davis. Maybe they couldn't find any," said Ken.

"No food!"

"It will be fine," said Kari, "they'll bring something back. Joe and Mimi are experts." She then walked over to the place where Matt was sitting with Sora. They both looked up at her. Sora smiled while Matt still had that glazed look in his eyes. "Something wrong Kari?" asked Sora.

"No, no. I was just wondering if I could talk to Matt for a minute."

"Sure, kid," said Matt. "What's up?"

"Um," she looked really uncomfortable. Her hands were behind her back and she was pawing at the ground with her foot. "Could I talk to him alone?"

Sora gave her a funny look and turned to Matt. He smiled at Sora and nodded. He knew what this was about. "It's ok, Sora. I'll be right back." He let go of her hand and followed Kari out of the earshot of the others. "You want to talk about T.K.?"

She nodded her head. "I'm so worried, Matt," she said. Her voice was near the brink of tears. "I don't know what I'll do if something happens to him." He didn't know what to say to her. He was feeling the same way, but he also knew that if he couldn't make her feel better then no one could. "I'm sorry, I know it's hard for you too, but you're the only one who knows about me and T.K. Tai doesn't even know."

It was true. He saw T.K. and Kari holding hands about a week ago and when he asked T.K. about it, he told Matt everything. The pair was in the same situation that he and Sora were. "Thank you for not telling anyone, Matt. If it got back to Davis, I don't know how he would take it."

"Take it from me, Kari," said Matt, touching the side of his arm to comfort her, much like how he comforted Sora, "the longer you wait, the harder it is going to be to tell him and the harder it will be for him to take it. You need to be honest with your friends and let him know that even though you and T.K. are together, he still is dear to you. You know how Tai took it. He seemed ok."

"Your right, but I am still afraid for T.K."

"I know, kido," he said. "How about this, you be strong for me and I'll be strong for you. Everyone is worried anyway; we might as well be strong for each other."

"Thanks, Matt. You know, I really wouldn't mind having you as a brother." She smiled that troublemaker's smile.

"Hey, don't even think about that for at least another five years." He gave her a playful knock on the chin and smiled. _He'll be ok_, he thought.

Sora had seen Matt talking to Kari, though she did not hear their conversation. _Why was he touching her arm? That's what he does to comfort me? How did she make him smile when I couldn't?_ She was making herself angry, but soon pushed the idea of Matt cheating on her out of her mind. _She's thirteen. I'm just over reacting._

Matt came back to her, noticeably happier, and pecked her on the lips. "Sora, I'm sorry I acted that way, but I promise, I will try to be optimistic."

She gave him a smile before a rustle in the bushes caused her to look away. Suddenly, Joe, Mimi, and Yolei came flying out of the bushes screaming, "Their after us!"

Mimi hid behind Tai and yelled, "Why did you put us three together! We always get attacked by digimon! Now there are too many!" She wasn't kidding. Not long after the trio came through the tree line, at least thirty Fangmon followed. They were laughing a low, scratchy laugh and began to circle the campsite.

"Oh, little digidestined are out here all by themselves," said one of the Fangmon licking his lips, his red fur shining in the moonlight. "There are so many. Good thing we haven't eaten in a few days." Many of the Fangmon laughed harder and Mimi whimpered behind Tai. "Which one of you is the Light? My master would love to play with you."

"That's none of your business!" yelled Davis.

"Oh, but it is."

"Whatever," Davis yelled. "Veemon!"

The campsite was filled with light as all of the digimon digivolved to their champion states. Beast of all shapes and sizes filled the small clearing and left very little room to maneuver. Patamon flew over to Matt as he was unable to help with the fight without T.K.

"What are those?" Tai asked Izzy.

Izzy plugged his digivice into his laptop and began reading to the others. "Fangmon; champion demon beast digimon. He has a mean temper and will attack anything that he can find. His main attack is Snipe Steal which uses his long claws, but his strongest attack is Blast Coffin."

The battle raged with one of the chosen digimon against three of their opponents. Needles, fire, and lightning flew against purple claws. "Blast Coffin!" a Fangmon yelled and black energy exited his mouth.

"Look out Sora!" yelled Kari as the energy flew at her friend. Fear filled Matt's heart as he turned and ran toward her.

_I'm not going to make it!_

* * *

Yay for cliffhangers, even if this one isn't very good. Don't worry, this battle will end with an interesting twist. Wonder what it will be? 

Thank you to these individuals for your critiques, reviews, and compliments. They are all greatly appreciated.

KiNKYSUPERDORK

Xanpluto

Biyomon Princess

gj-isendre

KoumiLoccness


	5. Sincere Feelings

Hey everyone, hope this didn't take to long for me to get out, I have been busy writing later chapters and it took a little longer for me to get to proofing this one. Anyway, I'm going to apologize for an inconsistency in digivolutions for the next few chapters. In order to make the story a little more interesting, I needed to fudge some rules for Garurumon. Nothing major and most of you probably won't care, but I know it bothers some people. Anyway, enjoy.

Also, if you wish to see some of these characters, just go to my homepage to see them. I also have a forum for the story with the same name. 

WARNING: some mild language, blood, torture, character deaths, angst, and some sappy stuff

* * *

"I am different from Washington; I have a higher, grander standard of principle. Washington could not lie. I can lie, but I won't." 

**Mark Twain**

* * *

He was almost there when Kari jumped in front of her and took the blow. The energy surrounded her and changed into an old fashioned wooden coffin. Matt could hear the young girl screaming and slamming her fists against the inside of the wooden structure. 

"Kari!" yelled Sora as she tried to pry open the coffin, but all she was able to do was tear her nails and cause the tips of her fingers to bleed, leaving red lines on the side of it. There was a ticking coming from it. Matt realized what was happening, grabbed her and pulled her away from the coffin, but she flailed and screamed. "NO! KARI!!!" Matt got Sora to a safe distance, but Tai had begun to run toward the coffin.

When he was a foot away, the coffin exploded, throwing Tai against a tree with a pained yell. The Fangmon laughed as the dust cleared. Kari was lying on the ground, not getting up, and Tai had been knocked unconscious when he hit the tree. Agumon dedigivolved and he and Gatomon ran to the side of their respective chosen child.

Sora was still fighting against his grip, screaming for him to let her go. She looked up at him to yell, but she stopped. His face was frozen in shock, as was the rest of his body, at the sight of his friends. She also noticed that his lip was bleeding. She must have elbowed him in her attempt to gain freedom. He slowly released her, and she ran to her Kari's side.

Matt stood there, unable to move. _I couldn't protect my friends either._ He lowered his head and looked as Garurumon and the other digimon finished off two more Fangmon. He could see his best friend across the clearing.

* * *

"_Matt, if anything ever happens to me, promise you'll take care of Kari," said Tai._

"_Only if you'll do the same for me with T.K." he responded._

"_Deal," said Tai, outstretching his hand to seal the deal. Matt put his hand in Tai's, and it was final. They would be stand in brothers._

* * *

Remembering his promise, Matt ran as fast as he could to Kari's side. He kneeled down next to a crying Sora and inspected his unconscious friend. It looked as though her Light protected her from most of the damage, but she was still very injured. Her leg was twisted in a weird way and her head was bleeding quickly from a gash near her hair line. Matt removed the light jacket he was wearing, leaving him in a black muscle shirt and khaki pants, and used it to put pressure on Kari's head wound. "Sora, I need you to go and get Joe." She turned to him and nodded. 

She quickly pulled herself together and ran to Joe who was on the other side of the clearing. "Joe, we need you now! Kari is hurt really bad!"

"How?"

"I'll explain later, come on!"

Joe grabbed Mimi to help him and they both followed Sora to Kari. "Oh my gosh, her leg!" said Mimi.

"It's not the leg that I'm worried about," said Matt calmly, as he had finally regained his composure. "She has a huge gash in her head." It was then that Mimi saw Matt's jacket, soaked with blood. Joe sat next to him and pulled out some medical supplies from his bag. The three worked together and soon the bleeding had slowed, but it hadn't stopped.

"Look," yelled Patamon, "the Fangmon are almost all gone!" Everyone, except Joe, looked up in time to see all but one Fangmon disappear. Just as they thought that they could relax, they heard an agonizing yell come from where Tai was with Agumon. The digimon had been thrown across the clearing, and there, holding up Tai by an obviously broken and bleeding arm, was……..WEREGARURUMON! But he was black where the one they knew was white.

Everyone looked at Garurumon who did not seem to be in as much shock as they were. "His name is ShadowWereGarurumon," said Izzy. "It's a demon wolf digimon that digivolves from Fangmon. Same attacks as ours, but a different attitude. Its temper resembles that of the functioned werewolves of our world."

The ShadowWereGarurumon licked his lips and gave Tai's arm a hard squeeze. Tai yelled in pain as he had unfortunately awoke from his unconsciousness. "Looks like I'm the only one who gets a meal," said the digimon and laughed a harsh laugh.

Matt could see that Tai was trying to be brave, but the pain in his arm was too great. He screwed his face up in pain and worry as he fought to get free from his captors grip. Matt could feel his blood starting to boil with rage.

"This is so strange," said Cody. "I've never heard a digimon talk about _eating_ a human before."

"Neither have I," said Izzy. "There must be some explanation."

The champion digimon attacked ShadowWereGarurumon with all they had, being careful for Tai, but were easily defeated by the ultimate digimon. Many were forced back into their rookie forms; those that weren't continued to attack. Soon, all of the digimon, minus Garurumon, had changed back and lay in pain on the ground. ShadowWereGarurumon let out another laugh as Garurumon pulled himself agonizingly off the ground to attack again, but fell.

ShadowWereGarurumon licked the blood on Tai's arm and closed his eyes. "Mmm…..tasty." He opened his mouth and fear appeared on Tai's face.

"Hey, dog breath! Put him down."

ShadowWereGarurumon stopped and looked at his insulter. Matt stood by Kari, hands clenched, staring at the digimon as if trying to make him explode. If only looks could kill.

"Heh," smirked the digimon, "you must be the one my master told me about, the brother of the brat in the dungeon. I can tell by your eyes, though his are filled with light and yours, darkness." Most were confused by this comment, but Matt only continued staring at the creature holding his friend. "You don't need to worry about saving him; he has already convinced himself that his friends will fail." Once again, ShadowWereGarurumon threw back his head in laughter.

"I said put him down!" he yelled a little louder.

"And if I don't? What are you going to do about it?" he asked, once again squeezing Tai's injured arm provoking an agonized yell. "You digimon is too weak."

"Garurumon can wipe the floor with you!"

"He is only as strong as you are, kid," but fear appeared in ShadowWereGarurumon eye's as a black aura surrounded Matt. His eye's lost their shine, his fists clenched so hard his fingers threatened to touch bone. Garurumon was also surrounded by the black aura and found the strength to stand next to his digidestined. The shine in his eyes had disappeared as well.

"Go, Garurumon!" Garurumon dove at ShadowWereGarurumon without hesitation and Matt's digivice started to screech. As Garurumon charged, he was encased in fire and emerged as a giant wolf of metal bones with bone wings and encased in a black aura. The creature's eyes shone red with hatred and anger. He stood at least as tall as MetalGreymon. "Kill him," said Matt darkly.

"What is that?!" yelled Davis.

"SkullBarukimon," said Izzy, drawing everyone's attention, "an ultimate undead digimon that evolves from Garurumon when he gets too angry. By the looks of his stats, ShadowWereGarurumon doesn't stand a chance. It says that it acts without thinking. It could hurt Tai! Matt, pull your digimon back!!"

But it was too late. SkullBarukimon was already disconnected with his mind. Matt snapped out of his trance, the black aura receding. "Stop!" he yelled, but when he realized that his digimon would not obey, he ran for Tai. How he beat SkullBarukimon no one will ever know, but as ShadowWereGarurumon dropped Tai to run, Matt grabbed him and pulled out before his digimon attacked.

"Deadly Fear!" yelled SkullBarukimon, and a red beam shot from his eyes. It hit its mark and ShadowWereGarurumon froze in his tracks. SkullBarukimon walked right up behind him. "Grave Bone!"

"Watch out, kid. That kind of darkness can consume and change you," ShadowWereGarurumon said to Matt right before SkullBarukimon stepped on him, shattering the digimon into a million pieces of data. Once he was gone, SkullBarukimon was encased in light and changed back to an unconscious Tsunomon.

Cody heard a rustle in the bushes and just caught a glimpse of a red tail running from the campsite. The last Fangmon ran away to tell his master that they had failed.

"Tai, are you ok?" asked Matt as he helped his friend sit down next to his sister. Matt was breathing rather hard and his head hurt.

He didn't hear Matt though. His attention was already taken by the form of his sister lying unconscious on the ground. "Kari, wake up!!" yelled Tai, shaking his sister.

"Stop it," said Joe, "she'll be alright. Her crest protected most of her. She woke up during the battle. She just needs to rest for a while."

"Speaking of the battle, what happened Matt?" asked Yolei. The others were looking at him rather afraid.

"I don't know," said Matt. "I remember Tai being hurt by ShadowWereGarurumon and him talking about T.K., and the next thing I knew, I was running to grab Tai before that huge digimon could hurt him. What was that thing?"

His friends were all looking at him strangely. "You mean you don't remember a thing?"

He shook his head. "And what was 'the darkness' ShadowWereGarurumon was warning me about?"

"Matt," said Ken, "that digimon was called SkullBarukimon. During the battle you and Garurumon had a black aura around you. You ordered Garurumon to attack ShadowWereGarurumon and he digivolved into that creature."

Matt couldn't believe what he was hearing. "You ordered SkullBarukimon to _kill_ ShadowWereGarurumon, Matt," Sora said softly.

Matt's mouth hung open like he was trying to explain but the words would not come out. _I did that?_ thought Matt. _I put everyone in danger._ "You guys, I'm so sorry. I…"

"No need to explain, Matt," said Tai, placing a hand on his shoulder. "I know when you are trying to protect the people you care about, your emotions can get in the way. Remember when Greymon digivolved into SkullGreymon? Our digimon respond to our emotions. I don't blame you. Ahh!"

Tai removed his hand from Matt's shoulder and placed it on his left arm. "Hold still, Tai," said Joe and he carefully removed Tai's jacket. "You took a hard blast to your arm. You definitely broke it. We need to get it in a splint."

As Joe worked on Tai, Mimi stayed with Kari. Matt walked over to her and saw that her head was wrapped and her leg was splinted. Mimi looked up; the worry in his face made her feel for the blonde. "Don't worry, she's gonna be ok." She smiled at him and he gave her a weak, unconvincing one in return. She worried about him. He always seemed to take the blame onto himself when things like this happened. She looked back at the unconscious girl. "There was nothing you could do. Don't blame yourself again."

"I should have done something, anything. If I was closer to Sora, Kari wouldn't be hurt right now."

"There are too many if's, Matt," said Mimi. "The only thing you can do is take what actually happened and understand _why_ it happened. You can't dwell on the past."

She asked Matt to watch Kari while she helped the others remake the campsite. Soon, they were all lying on their leaf beds and Matt was standing first watch. He looked at Mimi and rubbed the scar below the nape of his neck. "I always have," he whispered and continued washing the blood from his jacket.

* * *

"Don't worry, dear boy," said Phorcysmon as he held T.K.'s chin, "soon we will have Light and you can join your other friends in the afterlife." T.K. spit in his face, but this seemed not to bother his captor as he wiped the offending substance from his pale cheek. Pemphredomon stood by her father's side and watched the events unfold. 

Suddenly, a very injured Fangmon came limping into the room. "Sire," he said with a shaking body and an unsteady voice, "we failed. Not even ShadowWereGarurumon was able to defeat the digidestined. We didn't discover which digidestined was the Light, but we were able to injure two of them before our squad was completely wiped out."

"But you are still here," said Phorcysmon coldly. "How can a squad be wiped out if there is a single survivor?" Fangmon began to whimper and Phemphredomon began to shake and tear. They both knew what was going to happen, but neither liked the idea. "I will just have to take care of that little detail."

"Please, master. No!" but it was too late. Phorcysmon swung his hand and called, "Black Plague!" and Fangmon erupted into a haze of scattered data.

T.K. watched in disgust as the evil digimon absorbed the data from the other digimon. He had never seen a digimon do that before. _How is that digimon supposed to be reborn if his data is taken?_ thought T.K. _And who of my friends got hurt_?

Phorcysmon turned back to T.K. "Tell me, which of your friends is Light?"

T.K. said nothing. He simply stared angrily at the digimon that stood before him. _I can't tell them it's Kari no matter what happens. I will keep her safe, even if it kills me._

"I see you need a little coaxing," said Phorcysmon. The digimon lunged foreward and drove a punch into T.K.'s stomach. The loss of breath was not the problem, but the ribs cracking under the power of the attack sent pain through his body. The attack pushed him downward putting too much pressure on his wrists and he felt a snap in each. T.K. screamed in pain and allowed his head to drop. A sweat developed on his forehead and his hat fell to the floor. He fought to regain his breath, but it hurt so much.

_How can one attack drain me so much? That power is incredible._

"I think that is enough for today," said Phorcysmon. "I'll leave you with that; give you something to think about. All you need to do is tell me, and I will make the pain stop." He turned to leave and as he walked to the door he called, "Come Pemphredomon."

She turned and looked at T.K. with sad and worried eyes. She mouthed some words that took T.K. aback as he had never known an evil digimon to say them before. She turned and followed her father out the door. Though she didn't actually say them, her words rang in his ears, 'I'm sorry, friend.'

* * *

The next chilly morning the digidestined woke bright and early. Mimi, Yolei, and Davis all complained about having to get up so early after a battle and that it was cold, but no one else did. They all wanted to leave from the clearing as soon as possible in case Phorcysmon sent more attackers. 

Kari had woken up that morning. Tai walked over to her. "Hey, you ok?"

She nodded her head. "I'm kind of cold. My leg just hurts a bit and I feel a little light headed. I don't think I'll be able to walk. How am I going to go with you guys?"

"I'll carry you," said Tai with a smile, but it quickly disappeared.

"No you won't," said Joe and Cody.

"Your arm is injured enough as it is," continued Joe. "You need to let it rest and heal."

"Well, what about Kari?" asked Tai rather annoyed. "How is she going to come with us?"

Just then, Matt walked by the group of boys without a word, removing his jacket. He placed it and his backpack around Kari and carefully hoisted her up onto his back and carried her piggy-back style. She snuggled into his back as he walked past the shocked group and continued down the path to Phorcysmon's castle. Tai shook out of his daze and ran after his friend and sister. "Matt! Wait up!" The others soon followed and they were off again.

* * *

Yay for digibattles!!! I know this chapter was kind of lame, but it will cause a purpose later, but the digidestined better get to T.K. quick, before it's too late!!!! 


	6. Saving Light

Hello again!! Ok I know the last chapter was a little dry and this one might be too, but it _is _important. Don't worry, the next chapter is the battle with Phorcysmon. And, as usual, I don't own digimon just an idea for a story. Also, check out my forum, if you want, by the same name as the story.

WARNING: some mild language, blood, torture, character deaths, angst, and some sappy stuff

* * *

Dare to reach out your hand into the darkness, to pull another hand into the light. 

**Norman B. Rice**

* * *

T.K. just hung there like he had for his almost four days of captivity, but now he hung like an under stuffed rag doll. Phorcysmon had come back earlier that night and had another 'interrogation session' with him. Blood dripped quickly from his injured mouth and one of his eyes was swollen shut. T.K. had to breathe very shallow so as to not harm his already injured ribs. His arm was twisted in a weird direction, obviously broken. His entire body ached. T.K. knew all he had to do was say Kari's name to make all the pain go away, but he also knew that it would mean she would get hurt and he loved her too much to let that happen. 

The dungeon door opened and T.K. closed his eyes. _Maybe if he thinks I'm still unconscious he will leave me alone._ He heard the footsteps get closer and closer and suddenly they stopped. T.K. tried not to show that he was scared, but his thoughts were filled with fears of what the digimon would do to him next.

But instead of pain, he felt himself being lowered to the ground until he was sitting, the blood once again rushing to his numb fingertips. He opened eyes to his favorite evil digimon, Pemphredomon. She undid the shackles around his wrists and he noticed her eyes were filled with tears of sadness and anger.

"Thank you," said T.K. He wanted to rub his wrists, but he couldn't get his hands to move.

"Why?" she asked angrily grabbing his injured face and making him look her in the eyes, causing him to wince.

"Why what?"

"Why won't you just tell him about the Light? He wouldn't hurt you anymore!" she yelled as she pushed his head away, tears streamed down her face.

T.K. smiled despite the new pain in his cheeks where she had squeezed them. She was definitely like a small child. "Because I don't want anyone to hurt the Light. They are important to me." He didn't want to say _she_ in case Phorcysmon was listening. He didn't want him to be able to eliminate the possibility of it being one of the guys.

She looked at him shocked, "But it hurts you to protect him. Why would you protect someone at a cost to you?"

"Because I would rather die a thousand deaths than let someone hurt the one's I care about. Pain is only temporary, Pemphredomon, but to let someone down makes your heart hurt, and that never goes away." Her eyes widened at his words. "Just look at you, you come and let me down off this wall every chance you get, but when your caught, Phorcysmon hits you. It's because of your heart that you help people you care about even if it hurts you."

She looked at the floor, her eyes sad. "I don't have a heart though."

T.K. was now able to move his hands, though it pained him greatly, and he placed one on her cheek. "You may not have a physical heart, but everyone has an emotional heart."

Her eyes began to tear, "I want to be your friend. I will prove I am your friend." T.K. was about to tell her she didn't have to, but she lightly placed her hands on his ribs and closed her eyes. A faint white light emitted from her hands and T.K. winced as he could feel his ribs going back into place. She pulled her hands away and sighed. "I can't do any more than that or father will notice. I didn't heal them completely, but it should be easier for you to breathe now."

T.K. took a breath and could have cried. The pain had subsided and his ribs weren't the main reason for his pain anymore. "You might get hit for this though."

She smiled, "You are my friend and I will take it, but for this, I would get deleted."

"But he's your father!"

She was about to explain when the dungeon door opened again and Enyomon descended the stairs. "Well, well, baby sister. Look what I have found you doing!" Enyomon waved her hand and T.K. went flying back up onto the wall, the shackles wrapping around his wrists again. Pemphredomon gasped at his pained yell. "I should tell father on you, but I am _such_ a good sister that I will give you a chance to redeem yourself." She smiled evilly at the little girl and laughed the same way. "All you need to do is attack him, show that you are still on our side."

Pemphredomon looked at the boy with pained eyes, trying to decide what to do. T.K. gave her a nod, saying it was ok to do it so she would be safe. She apparently took it that way as well. She raised her hand. "Make sure you hit him, baby sister," giggled Enyomon.

She sliced her hand through the air. "Darkness Wing!" and a black blade of light flew at T.K. He readied himself for more pain, but he felt none as he heard the attack collide with the wall. _She missed!_ he thought. _She'll be deleted for sure! I got to help her!_ With that thought, T.K. let out a convincing scream of pain; after all he had a lot of practice the last couple days.

When the smoke cleared from the attack, T.K. tried his best to hang limp from the chains without causing too much pain in his wrists. Pemphredomon looked at him in horror as she apparently thought she had actually hit him. Enyomon giggled with delight over the boy's 'pain.' "You really did it, squirt. Come on, let's go tell Deinomon." She pulled her little sister behind her as she left and Pemphredomon looked at her friend. Just before she was pulled out of sight, T.K. lifted his head and gave her a little wink. Pemphredomon smiled before being drug off by her sister. T.K. smiled and fell asleep to the sound of his lullaby that he believed was just a vivid memory.

* * *

Kari woke up, warm and content, though there was a pain in her head and leg. She felt safe being carried by her blonde friend and she snuggled a little closer into his back. She could feel his toned arms carrying her. She had never noticed them before. His cologne smelled so good, she felt as though she could sit there forever. She thought of him as a brother, but she couldn't help also seeing what every other girl saw as well, Matt was a stud. 

"Morning, Kari," said Matt, pulling her from her daydreams. "Feeling better?"

"A little. How long have I been asleep?"

"You fell asleep about an hour ago." He turned his attention to Tai. "Tai, Kari's awake."

"Hey, kid," said Tai as he stopped the group and walked over to check on his little sister. She still looked tired to him, but she looked like she was feeling a lot better. Tai was worried about Matt too. The group had been walking for almost two days now and Matt had carried Kari the whole way. "Matt, maybe someone else should carry Kari for a while."

_Yes!_ Sora thought. She didn't want to admit it to anyone, but she was feeling a little jealous of Kari. Matt had been close to her for two days now and she was the only one he would talk to, even if it was only to check and make sure she was ok. Ever since the incident with SkullBarukimon, he hadn't spoken much. He was quickly turning back into the boy of stone he was when she met him.

Matt gave a small smirk. "And who would that be?" Tai looked at him concerned. "You're injured and Joe isn't strong enough, no offence Kari but your not as small as you used to be. Ken, Davis, Cody, and Izzy are too short, the girls are too tired, and T.K. isn't here. So who would carry her for me?"

Tai looked down at the ground and Matt realized that he said this harsher than he wanted to. "I'm sorry, Tai. I know you're just trying to help."

"It's ok," said Tai, his voice calm like he was trying to make Matt feel better, "I know you're worried about T.K. Don't worry, we're almost there." He looked at all the others in the group. "Let's take a break."

"Thank God," said Mimi flopping down on the ground, pulling the boots off her feet and rubbing them.

Kari carefully slipped off Matt's back and sat on the round. Matt stretched his cramped muscles and lied down on the grass beside her and closed his eyes. He was tired. Ever since T.K. had been taken, he hadn't slept very well until he was completely exhausted and right now, he was.

Before he knew it, he was consumed by the darkness of sleep and hurled into a nightmare. Gabumon stood before him, apparently in great amounts of pain as he was surrounded by fire and digivolved into SkullBarukimon. The creature yelled in pain, "Matt, why would you do this to me?"

To his right stood Sora, crying. She was holding him picture and tearing it to shreds. She looked at him, "I never want to see you again! Why couldn't you protect me?"

He wanted to run to her, but his feet wouldn't move. He looked down and saw that he was starting to sink into the black abyss below him and it had already risen to his knees. Suddenly, Tai and Kari caught his attention to his left. They were both physically injured and Kari looked near death, but was surrounded by a pale light. "You said you would stand in for me, Matt! What kind of stand in brother would let his friend's sister almost die? Why can't you do what you say?"

The darkness was now up to his waist, but he was somehow able to turn around when he saw the rest of his friends; digimon, digidestined, and band members alike, gazing at him. "How come you're not ever there for us?!" they yelled together.

Then he saw his mom and dad behind them, "Stupid kid," he said. "Can't do anything right."

"You were the reason we split up," she said dryly.

The darkness was now up to his shoulders, and though he struggled, he was only able to free his right arm from the floor. He grabbed around him, trying to find something solid to hold on to, to pull himself out before it was too late. He frantically looked, but suddenly stopped when he saw the blood hit his arm, and though he didn't want to, he looked up.

Tears started to well in his eyes as he looked upon his brother, hanging from the ceiling, covered in his own blood. It was obvious that he was going to die. He weakly looked at Matt with shineless eyes and said, "You promised, Matt. You promised." Then his eyes closed and he breathed no more.

The darkness now sat at his chin. "No!! I didn't want to!! I didn't mean to!! I…" but he was cut off as the dark liquid covered his mouth.

ShadowWereGarurumon walked over and looked down on him. "I told you to watch out or it would consume you."

Matt's eyes got wide as the creature placed his foot on Matt's head and pushed him under the cold, dark surface, only his arm was above it. _No, I don't want to be consumed!_ His hand was just about to go under when he saw a bright light above him. He could see it was a girl, but couldn't make out any features other than her short brown hair. Her hand met his and started to pull at him, yelling.

"MATT?!" He shot awake and felt something in his throat. He quickly turned away from the person hovering over him and coughed up blood. His chest hurt like he had almost drowned and he couldn't see clearly. "Matt, are you ok? What happened?" asked Kari, moving from where she had been leaning over him. Gabumon placed his hand on Matt's back and lightly padded it to make sure he had coughed it all out.

He saw that his body was surrounded by the black aura just before it faded away. "Nothing, I'm fine. It was just a bad dream."

"Yamato Ishida," he cringed at the use of his full name, "nightmares don't make you stop breathing and cough up blood."

Matt looked at Sora. Her eyes were filled with worry and anger. How could he tell her that he has had similar dreams before? Sure, SkullBarukimon and the scene with Kari and Tai were new and ShadowWereGarurumon had never pushed him under before, but it was the same general dream. It had always had his parents and T.K., and as more people became precious to him, they were added to his dream. "Really Sora," he said sweetly, "I'm glad you worry about me, but I'll really be ok. You don't have to worry."

Gabumon knew better though. He knew this dream had plagued him ever since his parents got divorced and he had been left alone. He also knew that it had gotten more intense when he came to the digital world; when he started to cough up blood and glow. He was worried about his digidestined. He had never stopped breathing during the dream before and the glow was slightly more noticeable. They needed to get him out of the digital world soon.

He pulled himself off the ground and looked at the astonished look on everyone's face. "We should keep moving," he said.

"Ok," Tai said; a little uncertainty in his voice. "Sure you're up for it."

"Farther we get today, the sooner we save T.K. tomorrow," said Matt.

"Alright, on to T.K.," said Gatomon. "We'll be there by late evening. We can get some rest and attack early tomorrow.

The digidestined and their digimon all agree and Matt picked up Kari in a piggy-back again. His body ached and his head hurt, but he didn't want the others to worry. They walked for a long time until they entered the Valley of Darkness and decided to stop for the night. Up ahead was a huge castle made of black stone. It was strange that there were very large windows, but no light emitting from them into the dark night.

"Ok team," said Davis after they finished eating supper, "time to get some sleep, we'll need all of our energy tomorrow. So, who will take first watch?"

"I'll take the first two watches," said Matt. He was sitting with his back leaned against a tree, looking at the stars.

"Matt, you can't handle _two_ watches," said Gomamon. "I know you're stressed and anxious, but you need to sleep too!"

"I slept earlier."

"If I remember, that wasn't a very restful sleep. Tossing, turning, blood. You need to sleep," said Biyomon, saying what her digidestined was thinking.

"Look," said Matt, finally turning his attention from the stars and to his friends, "I can either stay awake, take watch and let everyone else sleep, or I can not be on watch, not sleep, and make someone _else_ get less sleep at the same time. The first seems like a better idea to me."

"Fine," said Tai to everyone's surprise, "but you have to promise me that if you start to feel tired, you will wake one of us up to finish second watch. Wake me up for the third, ok?"

Matt nodded his head and everyone prepared to go to sleep. They set up Kari closest to the fire so that she would stay warm in the frigid night air, and everyone else chose a place to sleep. Matt walked to the small pool near their campsite. Gabumon tried to follow his friend to keep him company, but Matt had other ideas.

"Gabumon, why don't you sleep tonight and regain your strength? I can tell that you still feel weak from the battle with ShadowWereGarurumon, and…"

"…you want me to keep Sora warm." Gabumon had become good at reading Matt. Matt's face blushed slightly and he nodded. "Ok, but remember, if you need me, don't hesitate to call for me, ok?" Matt only nodded again. "One more thing, Matt."

"Yeah, Gabumon."

"Please don't beat yourself up over this. I was worried when you woke up from your nightmare. I never told anyone about it, but I know it makes you suffer. Remember your friends are here and you don't have to feel alone anymore." The digimon's eyes began to tear and his voice became choppy. "I don't want to see you fall to the darkness again, Matt. I almost lost you last time. Please don't make me watch you suffer anymore."

Matt kneeled down and gave his digimon a hug. "I'm so sorry I made you worry, Gabumon. I'm just scared."

"About T.K.?"

"About everything. About loosing my friends and family, letting them get hurt, losing Sora. Everything, but I'll try to be more positive. I already promised Kari." The digimon hugged him back, but neither of them knew that a red-headed girl still lay awake among the sleeping digidestined. Tears ran down her face for her boyfriend. Suddenly, she heard heavy footsteps coming her way and she pretended to be sleeping as Gabumon lay down beside her to keep her warm.

Matt looked in the water, Gabumon was right. All he had to do was stay positive and he knew everything would be ok. He heard a blast and a scream come from the castle that made the hair on his neck stand on end. He knew it was T.K. but when no others followed it, he decided it wasn't a good idea to wake everyone. They needed their sleep and as much as it pained him to not do anything, he knew they had to be at full strength to save him. So, he did the one thing he knew might help T.K. Though he had become sort of rusty at it, he pulled out his harmonica and played the one song he always played perfectly. The song he had named 'T.K.'s Lullaby.'

* * *

Yeah!!! Next chapter is the battle with Phorcysmon. I will get it up soon!!! I'm just excited to get chapter nine up!!! I can't wait!! 


	7. Rekindling Hope

Hey again, new chapter up and the fight for T.K. has begun. More chapters will come up soon, I'm just trying to stagger then in case I have writers block. Thank you all again for all of your reviews, I appreciate them greatly. I tried to write this one so you could feel the rush of battle, don't think I did very well with that though. I just want to try some different writing styles but not so much as to take away from my own. I don't own digimon…yadda, yadda, yadda…ok on with the story.

WARNING: some mild language, blood, torture, character deaths, angst, and some sappy stuff

* * *

"Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all." 

-Dale Carnegie

* * *

The sun had not risen yet when the digidestined awoke and snuck to the castle. The stars and full moon still shined brightly in the sky, their light illuminating the twenty-three beings that snuck beside the castle wall. The group was surprised and unnerved by the lack of guards watching the castle. This digimon was one of two things: foolish or powerful. They easily snuck in the door and moved silently down large corridors toward the sound Matt had identified as T.K.'s pained yells. 

They finally came to a large metal door. "There are people in there," said Gatomon very quietly to the rest of the group. "Three female digimon and two males. I'm assuming one of them is T.K."

Tai looked at Matt with his 'ready?' look and Matt nodded. Agumon and Gabumon took their places in front of the door and took a deep breath. "NOW!" yelled Tai.

"Pepper Breath!"

"Blue Blaster!"

* * *

"Tell me Light's name!" yelled Phorcysmon. He had lost his patience with T.K. a long time ago. He grabbed T.K.'s arm and pulled down on it. T.K. yelled in pain as his broken wrists were pulled by the shackles. "Tell me!" 

"NO!" T.K. yelled between pained screams. He didn't know how much more of this he was going to be able to take. The pain was so great, but he couldn't give up. He had to protect Kari.

Phorcysmon released T.K.'s arm and took a step back. "I'm warning you, boy. Tell me his name, or I will destroy you!"

T.K. could just see Pemphredomon standing with her sisters. Her eyes were tearing, but she would not let them fall, she couldn't. T.K. had warned her not to let her father see her cry for his sake. Her sisters looked very upset. This had gone on for about an hour now, and they would need to go to bed soon for the sun was to rise within the hour.

"You can kiss my AHHH!" yelled T.K. as Phorcysmon drove another of his hard punches into T.K.'s stomach, causing T.K. to cough up blood, adding to the pool of it below his suspended feet. He fought to regain the breath that had been knocked out of him and once he did, he let out a small laugh. "That all you got."

That was the last straw for Phorcysmon. It was one thing to withhold information; it was another to insult his strength. He backed away until he was ten feet away. "Death Claw!" he yelled as he slashed at the air. Red and black blades of energy flew at T.K. with amazing speed and before he knew it, T.K. had three large slashes across his chest. One was deep enough to show his collar bone and all three began to flow blood like a small fountain. It wasn't fatal if he got to a doctor soon, but if he didn't, he was a goner. "Tell me!" T.K. just looked the digimon in the eyes, and gave a small smirk. His body ached and shook as pain shot through him, but eh didn't want Phorcysmon to know he was just an inch away from passing out. Phorcysmon raised his hand again. "Death…"

_BOOM!!!!!!_

The metal door was blasted open by red and blue flames, and then there was a bright, white light. Eleven digidestined entered the dungeon with eleven champion digimon and one rookie.

"Alright, Greymon," yelled Tai, "show that guy the power of the digidestined."

"Girls!" yelled Phorcysmon. At his command, the three sisters, even Pemphredomon, jumped into the air and flew toward the digidestined. The room exploded into attacks of light, fire, darkness, and lightning. Each digimon avoided attacks with ninja-like reflexes, neither side gaining any ground. Phorcysmon simply sat back and watched his girls in their battle.

Kari was still on Matt's back as she was still unable to walk. She looked at the opposite wall. "T.K.!!!!!" she screamed seeing T.K. Matt had seen him as well. He was battered and bruised. His left arm was twisted in the wrong direction and his hands were so white they threatened to fall off due to the lack of blood. His face was absent of all color except for the blood that escaped his bleeding mouth. His face was screwed up in pain. Three large gashes cut diagonally across his chest were gushing blood down the front of his shirt and pants and dripping of the end of his suspended shoes. She tried to get off of Matt's back, but he would not let her go. "Matt, let me go! I need to help T.K.! Let me go!" She fought his grip, but he was much stronger than her.

"Kari," he said dryly, "I can't let you go to him."

She stared at Matt and then at T.K. "Why won't you let me help him?" she yelled, but then she noticed the tears in his eyes.

_Which one of you is the Light?__ My master would love to play with you._

"I can't let them have you, Kari," he said. "I know T.K. would never forgive me if I saved him but lost you."

"Look out, Matt!" yelled Davis, pulling the pair out of their conversation in time to see Birdramon coming at them. Matt ran out of the way before she collided with the wall and dedigivoled into Yokomon again. Sora ran to her injured digimon and held her close.

"I'm sorry, Sora."

"Shhh…it's ok, Biyomon. You did your best."

Matt placed Kari by Sora. "Watch her for a minute, ok? I'm going to try and get T.K." She gave him a nod and Matt took off toward T.K. as stealthily as he could.

Unfortunately, not stealthily enough. Matt had turned his head to see if anyone from the battle had seen him. He seemed home free until he turned around only to stare into the greyest eyes a living being can have. "Looks like we caught a fish, Mr. Flops." Matt tried to turn and run, tried to yell, but his body was frozen by her gaze. She walked up to him and whispered in his ear. "What do you dread?" His eyes widened. "Show me." She backed away, put her hand out and yelled, "Dread Reaping!"

He was no longer transfixed and able to think again. He turned to run, but his feet were stuck to the ground. _NO!_ he thought. He looked down to see his feet sink in the dark hole in the floor. _It's not a dream this time!_ "Garurumon!!" he yelled.

The digimon and digidestined looked toward the noise as Matt began to sink deeper and deeper. "Matt!" yelled Sora, but it was Tai who ran to his friend. Matt looked at the wall and saw his brother. The words from his dream rang in his head.

_You promised, Matt. You promised_

_I told you to watch out or it would consume you._

He had already sunk to his chest by the time Tai got to him. "Matt, give me your hand!" Matt reached out, but before they could grab onto each other, Deinomon connected her pointed heel shoe with Tai's face, sending him flying. He recovered quickly, though holding his arm, and tried to run back to his friend. Garurumon followed, but suddenly hit a force field. Phorcysmon had placed one around Tai and Matt so no one could get in…or out.

Matt had now sunk to his chin, and just like his dream, his right arm was frantically grabbing for something to hold on to. Tai was almost there, _I can do it_, he thought. He reached out his hand and someone grabbed his wrist; Enyomon.

She was laughing so hard she could hardly focus. "I love it!" she said pulling Tai's hands behind his back and forcing him to the ground. She kneeled on his back and pulled a handful of hair to make him look up. "I want you to watch this," she whispered in his ear.

Matt had stopped yelling for help as the darkness was over his mouth and nose already. Deinomon walked up to the boy, his sapphire eyes were wide with fear and anger. She placed a boot on his forehead, just as ShadowWereGarurumon had done, and pushed him under. "Matt!" he heard T.K. yell.

Enyomon was laughing hysterically as Matt's arm slowly started to sink from everyone's vision. Tai had one last burst of energy and pushed Enyomon off his back. There was a crash behind him as Garurumon busted through the force field. "Howling Blaster!" he yelled and Deinomon was slammed against the wall with a scream.

Tai dove just as Matt's hand went completely under the surface and drove his hand in after him. He grabbed on to whatever part of Matt he could get a hold of and pulled. Slowly, Tai drug Matt out of the black abyss and back onto the dungeon floor. Garurumon, in the mean time, had started to glow with the black aura again.

"Matt! Matt, wake up!" yelled Tai as he shook his friend. He gave Matt's chest a hard push, forcing black gunk and blood out of his throat and lungs. Tai gasped when Matt opened his eyes. Rather than the soft ocean blue he was used to, his eyes were the color of fire, bright as blood. He looked at Tai without 'looking' at Tai. He was still surrounded by the dark matter and it seemed to be feeding off of his energy. Before Tai knew it, Sora, Joe, and Cody were all by his side while the others continued to fight.

"No one hurts my digidestined!" yelled Garurumon, and once again he was consumed by fire and darkness and digivoled into something completely different from the last time. He was a dinosaur with thick red scales with a yellow underside. He stood on two feet and all four of his appendages ended in three razor sharp talons. His back was lined with large blades and horns protruded around those on his back, arms, and tail.

"What, Garurumon can digivolve into three different ultimates?!" yelled Davis.

"Incorrect," said Izzy. Tai and the others had successfully regrouped the team, including Matt, and most of them turned their attention. "Garurumon may have responded to Matt being encased in darkness, but he did this one mainly on his own. He's called Spinomon; a virus dinosaur digimon. He's the reason Gabumon stays so calm, because if he is angry, this is what he becomes. Spinomon can shoot the blades from his back and can store metal to melt into plasma for another attack. Oh my gosh!"

"What?" asked Yolei.

"He…he's a mega!"

Spinomon had turned toward Deinomon. "Sonic Slash Rain!" he yelled and the blades from his back flew at the digimon, pinning her to the wall. "Blue Prominence!" Hot plasma shot from his mouth and collided with her. The wall filled the room with steam as the hot liquid hit its cool surface. When the steam had gone, only a pink bunny remained.

"Deinomon!" screamed the two remaining sisters. They were battered from a barrage that the other digimon had surprised them with during Deinomon's demise and were lying on the ground. They turned to Phorcuysmon for help.

His eyes were calm and he nodded to his girls. He pushed off the wall and walked toward the chosen digimon.

"Matt, you gotta snap out of it!" yelled Ken. "We need you. We need to save T.K." Smiles began to cross the faces of the digidestined as the red gave way to the oceans current. He shook his head and he appeared back to normal.

Phorcysmon advanced on the line of chosen digimon and waved his hand. "Black Plague!" My of the chosen digimon were thrown backward, and Ikkakumon and Veedramon who received most of the blow, were sent back into their in-training forms. He attacked again, sending four more digimon back to their weakened states.

Soon, the only two digimon left standing were Greymon and Spinomon to face this great demon. Spinomon shot his blades at the demon and Greymon followed with a Nova Blast. Phorcysmon was slammed against the wall and Spinomon was about to attack again.

"Stop!" came a voice. Every person in the dungeon looked at the speaker. Enyomon was next to T.K. with her long nails pressed against an unconscious T.K.'s chest. "If you kill him, I will rip out your friend's heart."

"Spinomon, stand down," said Matt. The dinosaur creature calmed at his friend's request.

"Well, well," said Enyomon a little calmer since her father's plan had worked. "Looks like we're in a predicament here. What should we do?" She laughed an evil laugh. "How about a trade?"

"Ok," said Tai, "T.K.'s life for Phorcysmon's life."

Now Phorcysmon was the one laughing. "That's not a very good trade. What do I get out of it? If you delete me, I'll just come back. Can you say the same about your friend?" Kari winced at the sound of T.K.'s pained gasp. Enyomon had pushed her nails a sort way into his chest.

"Ok," said Kari, her eyes streaming with tears, "a trade. What is it that you want?"

"You, my dear," he said sweetly to Kari. He had known it was her the minute she entered the dungeon. She seemed to glow and he could sense her connection to the digital spirits. He could also tell by the way the older blonde had protected her more than anyone else.

"No deal," said Matt to everyone's surprise.

"We'll then, since you seem to be the negotiator, why don't you and I have a private chat, hmm. I'm sure we can work something out."

Matt looked at Tai. "I'll be right back."

"How do we know he won't kill you when you're with him?" asked Joe. "If he attacks you there is nothing that we can do to help."

"I'm willing to take that chance," said Matt. "Everyone stay here." He walked across the room to where Spinomon had Phorcysmon pinned. "If they try anything, don't hesitate to attack, okay Spinomon?" The digimon nodded his head and allowed Phorcysmon to come off the wall.

"This way please," said Phorcysmon, and he led Matt into a small room and closed the door. Pemphredomon sat next to the door and watched the chosen digimon intently, giving a quick, worried glance to T.K. every once in a while. The other digidestined waited, watching Enyomon and Pemphredomon very carefully. Their concentration was only broken when the door to the small room opened and heard Matt say, "It's a deal."

* * *

What is the deal? You'll have to wait for the next chapter to find out. 


	8. Broken Friendship

Ok, be ready because everything is about to change. Something happened in the digital world and no one knows what it was. That was confusing, but I don't want to give away anything. Hope you enjoy, there is a change in one of the characters. Don't worry, you'll notice.

WARNING: some language, blood, torture, character deaths, angst, and some sappy stuff

* * *

"Sometimes you put walls up not to keep people out, but to see who cares enough to break them down." 

-Unknown Author

* * *

"Enyomon, release the boy," said Phorcysmon. Enyomon gave her father a confused look but decided to obey nonetheless. She waved her hand and released his shackles. Phorcysmon grabbed T.K. so he would not hit the ground during the fall, but placed him there before calling over his youngest daughter. "Pemphredomon, come here," he said and the little digimon obeyed. "Just do as much as you can little one." 

Pemphredomon gave her father a look of confusion and suspicion, but soon understood what it was that he wanted her to do. She placed her hands on T.K.'s chest and squeezed her eyes shut in concentration. She reminded Matt of T.K. when he was younger, trying to solve his math problems. A white light emitted from the young girl's hands and enveloped the young man. A disgusting sound resonated through the stone dungeon as the bones in T.K.'s wrists and chest were set back in place by the small creature. When she finally pulled her hands away, the gashes on his chest were gone, not even a scar. "I couldn't do it all. His bones still need to heal," she said stepping back, obviously exhausted from the act.

"You did well, little one," said Phorcysmon. His daughter was not sure why he had her do this or why he praised her for doing it, but she didn't mind. Her friend was safe and her father was proud of her. That's all she wanted.

Matt had walked back over to the group, and now Phorcysmon followed with T.K. in his arms. He laid the boy in front of his friends and placed his hand on T.K.'s chest once again. There was a black light as Phorcysmon's hand sunk into T.K.'s chest. A small pained gasp escaped from the young man causing Kari to gasp as well. The black light receded as Phorcysmon removed his hand. A weird symbol had appeared on T.K.'s chest where the digimon's hand had entered. The symbol resembled two wispy hearts. One of the hearts had its point facing the top of T.K.'s shoulder and the other was facing the opposite direction toward the floor, laying right over where T.K.'s true heart should be. The two hearts were intertwined at their crests. There was another gasp from T.K. as they two hearts began to fill with the deep red of his own blood, but it never left the outline of the marking. Sora just caught a glimpse of Matt placing his hand over his own heart with a small wince.

"This symbol is my insurance," said Phorcysmon to Matt as he stood. "This is a curse seal. When the deal is complete, it will disappear, but if it is not completed in the time we agreed upon, the seal will destroy him. Do you understand?" Matt nodded. "Very well. Enyomon, Pemphredomon, come." Phorcysmon winced as a pair of large, black leather wings tore through his skin and shirt. The digidestined were amazed by the size of his awful wings and the tears that riddled their surface. The three digimon spread their demon wings, Phorcysmon's were spanned twice the length of his body. The three digimon then jumped and busted through one of the draped windows. Pemphredomon was the very last to exit, holding the pink rabbit doll as she flew.

"Matt, you did it!" yelled Sora, giving him a hug. "What do we have to do?"

"Don't worry about it," he said dryly, "it's taken care of."

"Come on, Matt, tell us," said Mimi, smiling and running to his side.

"I said don't worry about it!" he yelled causing everyone to step back. More calmly he said, "Let's go." He picked up T.K. piggy back style and exited out the main door of the dungeon. Joe picked up Kari and the remaining teens followed him out.

Eventually, Joe had to give Sora Kari to carry. He just couldn't keep up with Matt's pace as he led the group when he was carrying her. Everyone was wondering what the deal had been, but no one dared interrogate the blonde teen after his sudden mood change. Besides, Matt said it was already taken care of, so maybe it wasn't that big of a deal. The group talked about what they were going to do when they got home with constant reminders from Joe that T.K., Tai, and Kari needed to go to the hospital the moment they got back. Yolei and Cody were busy trying to think of how to tell their parents they forgot to tell them about the trip. Ken and Izzy were talking computers, something no one else understood. Matt, on the other hand, didn't say a word the entire way.

The group found a TV around sunset. The digidestined were all saying goodbye to their digimon, except one.

"Will you come back and see me before go back to school?" asked Gabumon.

Matt looked at him, his face was stern and his eyes were hard. "No, I have better things to do."

"What do you mean?" asked Gabumon. He felt his eyes starting to tear and his heart sunk in his chest. He didn't really mean that?

"I mean I don't _want_ to come back and see you. I have better things to do with my day than talk to an overprotective digimon." He looked away from everyone and faced the digiport. After a few seconds, he lifted his digivice and was gone.

Gabumon couldn't believe what just happened and neither could any one else who had heard the conversation. He tried hard to stop his tears from falling, but a dam can only hold back so much water. Agumon went to his friend's side. "It's ok, Gabumon," said his friend, "go ahead and cry." His dam burst and his tears slid down his cheeks in a heavy stream. He had always been there for Matt, protected him, and listened to his problems. What had happened to the boy he knew at the end of their last adventure? What had caused his heart to harden so much again?

_How can he do that to his digimon?_ thought Ken as he watched the scene unfold. Agumon suggested that the digidestined let the digimon take care of Gabumon and head back to the human world.

Before they knew it, they were back in Tai's bedroom with Matt sitting on Tai's bed. No one dared talk to Matt about the incident. They all called their parents; saying they were home and most of them said they were safe. Matt called his mother and Tai went out to the kitchen to talk to his which ended in a complete meltdown when she saw her kids. His comment that it was nothing a couple of casts and some stitches couldn't fix didn't seem to console her any. After that, they all traveled to the hospital where T.K. and Kari were required to stay, and Tai got his arm put in a cast with a lot of complaining.

Once he was placed in a sling they all traveled to the room T.K. and Kari were staying in. T.K. had woken up, but he was in quite a bit of pain. "It's a good thing that Pemphredomon fixed you up a little before we left," said Cody, "otherwise you probably wouldn't be awake right now."

T.K. let out a laugh. The digidestined were surprised that he was so happy after being tortured by an evil digimon, but he responded with the same lesson Mimi had told Matt, "The only thing you can do is take what actually happened and understand _why_ it happened. You can't dwell on the past."

"How long do you both have to stay?" asked Ken.

"Believe it or not, they said we can both leave on Tuesday," said Kari.

"Yeah, just in time to go back to school," said T.K. in a joking manner.

"OH, NO!" yelled Davis. "I totally forgot we have school again in three days. I haven't written my paper yet. I got to go." Davis ran out the door and was followed by his friends' laughter.

"Hey, Matt," said T.K., "would you mind giving me a ride to school on Wednesday?"

"No," he said emotionlessly.

"Good, because I..."

"I meant no, I won't give you a ride." Everyone stared at him in shock. "I'm riding my motorcycle and you'll just fall off with your broken arm. Find another ride, or better yet, walk. It's not that far."

"Matt, what is the matter with you?!" yelled Tai. "First Gabumon and now T.K.?" He turned to T.K. "I'll come get you and Kari."

"Hmph," snorted Matt and he walked out the door of the hospital room.

T.K. looked down at his hat that he was wringing in his hands. "Did I do something wrong?"

"No, T.K.," said Sora, "it isn't you. Ever since the battle he's been a little…off. I'll talk to him, ok?" He nodded, obviously still very upset by his brother's actions.

* * *

For the next three days, the digidestined didn't get to see each other. Most were grounded for leaving on a deadly mission without telling their parents, others needed to finish school work, and yet others needed to rest. On Wednesday, Tai went and picked up Kari and T.K. like he had promised. 

"Has anyone heard from Matt?" asked T.K. as they left the hospital. He was still worried and a little distraught over how his brother had spoken to him. Matt had never said anything that harsh without a good reason before.

"Sorry, T.K.," said Tai, "he hasn't been answering his phone. I think this whole ordeal just gave him a big scare and he's still trying to deal with it."

"Oh," T.K.'s normally cheery disposition was absent from his voice. He was still fidgeting with his hat and, due to his lack of hat hair and the small hole that was developing in the worn hat, that he hadn't stop since the conversation.

"T.K.," said Tai, rounding to the front of the boy and placing his hand on his shoulder, "you know your brother better than anyone. If there is something wrong, I truly believe he would tell you at least. I mean, the guy does have his secrets, but even you know most of them, right?"

"You're right," said T.K. a little happier than before, but the bliss soon faded. "If anything is wrong he normally tells me, but he never yelled at me like that before. I mean, he normally treats me like I might break, and all though I hate that, I would rather him treat me like a China doll than a piece of garbage."

_How __do I respond to that? _thought Tai. _This kid needs me and I have no idea how to do it. What would Matt do?_ So, Tai did the only thing he could think of, he pulled T.K. into a brotherly embrace, being careful for T.K.'s casted arm and said, "Nobody thinks you're a piece of garbage. Matt just needs a little space right now." He could feel T.K.'s tears starting to soak through his school uniform as Kari hobbled over on her crutches and joined the friendly scene, wrapping her arms around T.K.

"We better get going," said T.K. after a few minutes, "or we're going to be late for school." The three piled into Tai's car and started to pull out of the parking lot. He waited for a few cars to pass before starting to pull out. He had to stop one more time before exiting to let a black motorcycle pass, the crest of friendship painted on the side.

"Was that…" started Kari.

"Kind of out of his way, isn't it?" asked Tai.

"He came to make sure you picked me up," said T.K., a smile appearing on his tear stained face.

* * *

After Tai dropped off his passengers at their middle school and then headed for his high school. He was running behind, but soon found himself in his desk for math. He dazed through his classes like always and as the tardy bell rang, he was in Japanese (like our English). He could hardly ever concentrate in this class. He looked over to Matt's desk only to see it sitting empty. He looked at Sora who was in the desk right next to Matt's and gave her a confused look, but only got a shrug in return. _That's strange; didn't he ride ahead of me on his motorcycle? He should be here, _thought Tai. Matt had never been late for class before, unless he was sick or…_crap._

Matt walked through the door five minutes late, helmet and backpack in hand. The collar of his white shirt under his green school jacket was popped, and Matt hated collar popping. He said it made people look like they wanted to be cool, but made themselves look like a total loser. Tai could also see that the bandages on his hand was bloody again, meaning he probably ripped the stitches in his knuckles. This all added up to the one secret Matt had shared with Tai but never shared with T.K. His dad hit him again. Hiro wasn't an abusive man most of the time, but he got pretty drunk every so often. If Matt had done anything REALLY bad around that time, like going to the digital world for three days without telling him, he would strike Matt as a punishment. He never _beat_ Matt, but he normally struck him one or two times. Or at least, that's what Matt had told him. Tai could just see the purple bruise peeking over Matt's collar. You would never see it if you didn't know what to look for, but it was strange. Matt had said that his dad never hit him in the face. It was always the arm or stomach. Something was wrong.

Matt tossed a pink slip on the teachers desk indicating an unexcused tardy. "You're late, Mr. Ishida," said the teacher, Ms. Iwata.

"Obviously," said Matt rolling his eyes. His teacher gave a disapproving look and Matt headed back to his desk near the back of the room between Tai and Sora. He literally threw his backpack to the floor and sat down in his chair, slouching until his feet were resting on the rungs under the chair in front of him. He set his helmet on the floor next to him and crossed his arms. Everyone looked at the blonde with surprise.

Tai was confused. Matt had never acted that way toward a teacher. He was a rebel, but he normally gave respect where it was due, unless it was a really bad day. Still, everyone knew that Ms. Iwata was not someone to mess with, there was a reason she was still single. She stood up, her brow furled in anger, though she still spoke calmly to the class. "Take out the quotes I asked you to find from places other than our book that demonstrate the themes of the novel."

Everyone opened their folders and backpacks and pulled out sheets of paper with a few lines written on them. Tai and Sora turned to their companion, but Tai was the first to speak. "Matt, where were you?"

"Why the hell do you care?" he said in a cold voice, never making eye contact with either of his friends.

"Honey, are you ok? You have been acting strange ever since the battle and I'm worried about you." Sora's voice was very shaky and obviously concerned. Tai looked at her and saw that she looked very tired, almost as if she hadn't slept very well ever since they returned.

"I'm fine," his voice was hard as steel and the lack of emotion in his voice seemed to concern Sora even more than before.

"Matt, please, tell me what's wrong!" she said urgently.

"Am I interrupting something?" asked Ms. Iwata. She was standing right in front of Matt and Sora's desks with her hands on her hips and her mouth pursed. Sora looked down and shook her head while Matt just continued looking forward. Ms. Iwata shifted her attention toward Matt, looking down on him as if he were an unwanted pest. "Mr. Ishida, I have about had it with your attitude today and you have only been here for three minutes. Either shape up or leave my classroom. Do you understand?"

For the first time that day, Matt shifted his gaze, but not toward Ms. Iwata, but toward the floor. "Yes, ma'am," he said, his voice still hard, but much more respect making itself heard.

"And for goodness sake, put your collar down. You look ridiculous." This was obviously something Matt did not want to hear and he hesitated. "Well, come on. It's against school dress code."

Ms. Iwata stood over Matt as he reluctantly reached up to his collar and readjusted it to the right position. There was a gasp from the class when Matt moved his hand to reveal a huge bruise on the back of his jaw, just below his ear, the size of orange. It was a deep purple and obviously recent, almost as if it could have been made late last night or even this morning. Matt looked down, attempting to avoid the gazes of his classmates.

"Mr. Ishida," gasped Ms. Iwata, "where did you get that?" The amazement in the class was as thick as fog now. Ms. Iwata had never shown concern for anyone before, but it was completely obvious that she was afraid for this blonde haired boy that sat in front of her. "Who gave that to you?"

Tai could see the panic in Matt's eyes. He was trying to find an excuse, he had done it easily before, but this one was hard. It was on his face. "I…I…"

"I did," said Tai and all eyes looked upon him horrified. Most of all was Ms. Iwata and Matt.

"You, Mr. Kamiya!"

"Yeah," said Tai, trying to look as ashamed and guilty as possible. "Everyone knows Matt and I have our spats and occasional fist fights. We got into it last night over how he was a jerk to his little brother and I apparently hit him a little harder than I meant to."

"Well, I will say that I am ashamed of both of you," said their teacher. "Fist fights; how barbaric. Anyhow, it happened outside of school so there is nothing I can do about it, but I hope you two learn how to deal with your problems better than that!" She walked back to the front of the room.

Tai looked over to his friend, and though Matt looked very upset with him, he mouthed the word 'thanks' to Tai before returning his attention to the front.

"Did you two really get into a fight?" Sora asked Matt, but he ignored her. "Matt? Please talk to me."

"Ms. Takenouchi, you are trying my patience," came Ms. Iwata. "We are going to share our quotes and discuss them, so why don't you tell me your quote on the theme of kindness."

Sora stood up, embarrassed to have been caught again, but she never had been the best at getting away with misbehaving like Tai and Matt were. She cleared her throat and said, "'Constant kindness can accomplish much. As the sun makes ice melt, kindness causes misunderstanding, mistrust, and hostility to evaporate.' It was said by Albert Schweitzer."

"And do you believe this quote to be true?"

Sora looked over at Matt. Their eyes connected and though she saw his hard outer shell, she also saw his inner being, a compassionate man who felt the need to be needed. "Yes," she said as he looked away.

_Why did I put those two next to each other,_ thought Ms. Iwata. "Ok, Mr. Kamiya, how about yours."

Sora sat back down to give Tai the floor as he rose to his feet. "I found this one and I believe it to be true even if others don't. It was said by Robert Brault. 'Today I bent the truth to be kind, and I have no regret, for I am surer of what is kind than I am of what is true.'" Tai didn't look at Matt, but he could feel his friend staring at him. Tai sat down as the class discussed the two quotes and if they were good concepts of kindness. Tai and Sora defended their ideas and Matt remained quiet. Other students read quotes and the class discussed them as well.

"Alright class, we have time for one more quote before you leave. Mr. Ishida, how about yours."

Matt opened looked up and the class and then lowered his head again. He didn't have a piece of paper in front of him but he recited it perfectly. "Even my friends will attest that I believe in this saying." He gave Sora and Tai hard glares. "An unknown author once said it. 'Never miss an opportunity to make others happy, even if you have to leave them alone in order to do it.'" Once he finished, the class once again stared at him for a few moments before the bell rang for the next class.

"Alright, bring your quotes back and we will discuss them tomorrow."

Matt got up and grabbed his things, as did Sora and Tai, and began to walk out the classroom door. Matt popped his collar back up and walked back to the lockers with Tai and Sora. "Did you two really get into a fight?" asked Sora.

Matt looked at her and said with a cold voice, "No."

"How did you get that bruise then?"

"It's none of your business."

"Please, Matt," she pleaded, "I just want to make sure your ok."

"Matt, just talk to us," Tai interjected to help Sora out. "Whatever is going on with you, we can help. Is it something with your dad?"

Sora looked a little confused with his comment, but it was obvious he had made Matt angry. "What part of it's none of your business don't you two understand?!" he yelled at Tai. "If I thought you needed to know what was going on I would tell you, otherwise you should just but the hell out!" Matt's yells had grabbed the attention of all of the students in the hallway and caused a few teachers to poke their heads out of their rooms to make sure that everything was alright. Most of Matt's fangirls that had been following him from Japanese had stepped back several steps and were nearly cowering against the brick wall on the opposite side of the hallway. Everyone was surprised as no one but the digidestined had ever seen Matt as anything other than a cool, collected individual.

Tai was taken aback not only by his friend's outburst, but by a change in his friend's face. His eyes were shining the deep crimson color of blood that they had been in the digital world. Matt turned and threw his books into his locker before slamming the locker shut. "I'm so sick of this shit. I'm outta here."

Matt turned to leave but was stopped by Joe. "Matt, you need to calm down," he said. He had noticed a small black aura developing around Matt and when Matt turned, he saw his red eyes. He knew the last thing they should want Matt to do would be leave. "If you just take a few deep breaths…"

But he was cut off by Matt grabbing the collar on his shirt. "Get the hell out of my way." He pushed Joe to the side and began walking toward the parking lot with his helmet in hand. No one else dared get in his way as the teen left the building.

After he had left, Sora began to shake. Tai walked over to her and gave her a comforting hug and a shoulder to cry on if she needed it, even though she didn't. He was too shocked by Matt's actions to say anything as were many of the students and teachers that had witnessed the incident. It seemed as thought the stillness persisted for hours until it was broken by the tardy bell for the last class of the day. Slowly the students moved for their classes, but the digidestined that had witnessed the scene still could not move. Tai finally broke the silence. "Guys, we need to have a meeting after everyone is done being grounded. I think Deinomon did more than we thought."

* * *

Be ready, the next chapter is being finished already and it is LONG. When that one comes out make sure you have some time to read it. Matt fangirls, please don't kill me, I am a Yamato Fangirl too! 


	9. Lost Love

Heads up guys, in order to make this sequence of titles that I have planned out work, this will be a _**LONG**_ chapter. There is a lot of stuff I have to fit in here and it is way different, but it will all come together later, possibly the next chapter, but now I have to put it all in. Unfortunately, I'm having a bit of a writer's block on how to continue plus I am going on vacation. I know how the story will end, but I need to find what will happen until then. Enjoy.

Don't own digimon or any of the poems or songs, just an idea for a story. Though we pretend the poems and songs are those of the characters, I will give credit where credit is due. I am embarrassed to say I suck at writing poems, so I needed to borrow others'.

WARNING: stronger language, blood, torture, character deaths, LOTS of angst and sappy stuff, lost trust and friendship

* * *

"Ask me why I keep on loving you when it's clear that you don't feel the same way for me... the problem is that as much as I can't force you to love me, I can't force myself to stop loving you." 

-Author Unknown

* * *

The digidestined learned that they would be unable to meet until Saturday when the last of them was done with their grounding. They had decided to meet at Tai's house, like they always did, to discuss what they should do about their friend. 

He was really starting to worry them. Matt hadn't been at school the next day and he once again would not answer his cell phone. His home phone was always answered by Hiro, but he was not sure where Matt was and sounded very upset when Matt was mentioned. He said he assumed Matt was practicing for the concert on Friday night. When Matt had a concert coming, he normally stayed at Yutaka's house.

But he came back to school on Friday. Sora, Matt and Tai were sitting in Ms. Iwata's class again on Friday listening to her babble on about the theme of love in their novel and how important love is in each and every person's life. No one had spoken to Matt since his little outburst and even his fangirls followed him a little farther away than normal. He still held the iron expression on his face, his eyes were still that accursed red color, and he still ignored his two best friends, even when they tried to say hello. Tai had noticed another bruise today, but this one was where his shoulder met his neck, hidden from most of the world by his unpopped collar.

"'The most important thing in life is to learn how to give out love, and to let it come in.' That was said by Morrie Schwartz. Now, I would like each of you to write a poem about love for Monday. It doesn't need to be long, but it can't be very short. Four or more lines would be sufficient." The bell rang to dismiss the class. "I will see you all on Monday. If you won't be here, please email me your poems!" she yelled over the noise of leaving teens.

"This is stupid," said Tai as the three walked to their lockers. "None of us write poems that she likes, well, except Matt. Remember the last poem we had to write? I failed it!"

"Tai," teased Sora, "you failed because you wrote a poem called 'Don't Eat Green Toast' when we were writing about truth. It was about the time you ate moldy bread."

"I told the truth," he said. "I did eat green toast." This caused an outburst of laughter from Sora, but Matt remained stone faced. Both Tai and Sora's faces lost their cheer at the sight. Normally, Matt would have laughed right along with Sora, which would make Tai laugh, too. Matt could make anyone laugh if he did, his laughter was catchy.

"Matt, are you going to meet me by my locker today after school?" asked Sora. She was afraid that he would say no and knew he probably would, but it was worth a try.

Her faith in him was paid off. "Yeah," he said dully, "I need to talk to you about something anyway. I'll see you then, ok beautiful."

Her heart almost skipped a beat. He had called her beautiful, just like he used to. _See everything is going to be ok, _she thought, giving Tai a look that said the same thing. He was just as happy to hear that come from Matt's mouth as she was. Normally, it saddened him to hear Matt and Sora calling each other pet names; it reminded him that she wasn't his, but if it meant his best friend was going back to normal, he was happy to hear it.

The three parted ways for their last class and it moved too slowly for Sora to handle. She couldn't wait to talk to Matt again. He was finally changing back and his walls were falling again. She bet by the time she met with him again, the red in his eyes would be gone. She couldn't concentrate on her math. Each time the teacher asked her to answer a question, she answered wrong, which was unlike her, because she couldn't focus. When the bell finally rang at the end of the period, she was the first out the door and she ran to her locker.

She started to put her stuff away. She looked to her left and saw Tai, smiling at her and giving her a wink. Joe and Izzy were with him as well who gave her a wave and a thumbs up. She closed her locker and there was Matt, leaning against the lockers with his arms folded across his chest. His eyes were closed and his head was bowed. When she closed her locker he slowly opened his eyes, revealing the blue oceans with red surrounding his pupils. She smiled at him and he gave her a weak, unconvincing smile in return. _Something's wrong!_ she thought. He grabbed her hand and began to pull her down the hallway.

"We should find somewhere else to talk," he said over his shoulder. She turned her head toward Tai, Matt didn't notice since he was pulling her, and gave him an urgent look. He knew what she wanted and he followed his friends so that Matt wouldn't notice. Izzy and Joe followed as well, understanding what Tai was doing.

Matt pulled her around a corner where no one was standing, though student passed by on their way to their car or the busses. Sora was still excited to talk to Matt, but there was that voice in the back of her mind that was still telling her that something wasn't quite right. Matt let go of her hand and put it behind his head and rubbed it. Something was definitely wrong. "How do I say this?" he said quietly.

Her heart did skip a beat and then began to hammer at her rib cage. Her breath started to come quicker. This wasn't really happening. She knew what was coming but she tried to convince herself that it wasn't true. She fought herself so that she wouldn't say anything, trying to preserve what she had. Maybe he wouldn't do it if she didn't say anything, but her mouth won the battle. "Say what?" she said, her voice already quivering.

"Sora, what we had, I don't think it's really working," he never lifted his eyes to her, finding a spot on the floor to focus on.

"Matt, you don't mean that!"

"I need my space, you're a great person and everything, but I think we should see other people. What we have, I just don't love you anymore."

"Please, don't do this," she cried.

"Sora, it's over."

"NO!" she screamed, causing everyone in the near vicinity to stop and stare. "Matt what do I need to do to make you stay?"

"Sora, you're making a scene," he said calmly, still not looking her in the face. "It's over."

"Matt," she said forcing his face toward her and looking into his now red eyes, "this isn't you, it's that darkness. We can fight through this; we don't have to do this. I love you so much, Matt. I can't bear the thought of losing you. You're everything to…"

"I've been seeing somebody else," he interrupted.

Sora stopped and lowered her hand slowly to her side. Her mouth stood open just as many of the spectators did as well. Matt had always seemed to be the nice guy, he stood up for her, he never took advantage of her, and the couple looked genuinely happy. Now he says that he has been seeing another girl behind Sora's back. The tears welled in her eyes and her hands formed into tight fists at her side, shaking terribly. Joe and Izzy could be heard around the corner in their attempts to hold back an enraged Tai. "Let me at him. I'm gonna hit him so had he won't know what day of the week it is! He'll be lucky if he doesn't go through a wall! I'm…." said Tai and he continued to rant.

Sora still stood there in shock. _This isn't really happening. I need to wake up from this nightmare!_ Then she did something that even surprised herself. Her fist flew upward and connected with Matt's stomach, causing him to double over in pain with an agonized 'hmph!' "You two-timing bastard!" she said as he sat on his knees on the ground supporting himself with one hand, his hair covering his face. "Don't you ever, _ever_ speak to me again!" She turned and ran into the crowd, tears flowing like a river down her face.

Tai pulled out of Joe and Izzy's grips and walked toward where Sora had left. Before pushing through the crowd he said over his shoulder. "I thought you were our friend, asshole. You better get your shit together before it's too late." He ran after Sora, and Joe and Izzy gave Matt a short glance before following their leader.

The crowd began to move on its way again with disapproving mumbles. No one moved to help the blonde teen. _Tennis has really given her an arm,_ thought Matt, his hand covering his stomach where she had hit him. No one had noticed that he had coughed up blood again nor did they notice the small smirk on his face or the tears on the tile floor. The noise from the passing students masked his whisper as he said, "Almost there, T.K."

"Sora! Sora, wait up!" yelled Tai as he ran after the red-headed girl, but she didn't hear him. She was too busy coping with the reality of what had just happened to her. The man she loved, had devoted herself to, had been seeing someone else. Why? She didn't deserve for this to happen to her. She pushed her way through the crowd, gaining looks of both annoyance and sympathy as she passed. It was already spreading what had happened to her. She stopped by her car, struggling to open her bag with her shaking hands. Her heart felt like it had stopped beating and her breath came in short gasps between pained whimpers. Many who passed her now gave her compassionate looks, but everyone knew not to approach her. Her team mates knew she wasn't going to go to practice as they passed by her to head to the tennis courts. She was unable to search her bag with her shaking hands and she threw down her backpack and yelled with frustration.

Tai caught up with her. "Sora, it will be…"

"Don't you dare say it's going to be ok, Tai!" she yelled. "Don't you even dare! I don't want anyone to…to feel pity for me or…or tell me that I will move on. This is more than a scratch or a broken arm, I just had my heart torn apart and stepped on. I was just dumped in front of the entire school; I just lost the person I loved. It's…it's not going to be ok!"

Tai didn't say anything, nor did he look surprised at her outburst. She could only see sympathy in the eyes of the boy who stood before her. His brown eyes were watering, though no one else noticed, and his hands were clenched by his side.

He was just as angry as she was at Matt. The girl he cared about, would do anything for, was just canned by some pompous rock star for God knows what reason. He remembered how hard it was to watch them be in love, but now it hurt him even more to know how much it hurt her for it to be over. He just wanted her to be happy. This should have never happened. He strode over to her and wrapped his arms around her. "I know it hurts and I know you think your world is falling apart. Right now it probably is and I'm not the person to tell you it's going to be ok, but I will be here for you to cry on until the rain is gone. Rainy days can't last forever, but no one can ever tell the clouds to leave, you just have to wait. So that's what I'll do. I'll stand in the rain with you and wait until the sun comes out."

She put her hands on Tai's chest like she was going to push away and cried like there was no tomorrow. She felt comfortable letting it all out in front of everyone as long as she had someone there who would pick her up when she fell. They sat there for ten minutes this way; his arms wrapped around her holding her head against his shoulder while she soaked it with her tears. He didn't care that the cast on his arm was starting to feel heavy or that the small amount of makeup she wore was washing off onto his jacket, all he cared is that she cried it all out. _This is supposed to be his job. He should be out here with her, but I'll be damned if I will let him near her again! _"Sora," he said softly, "why don't I drive you home today."

She didn't remove her head from his shoulder, but he felt her nod her head there. They didn't move for a few more minutes but when she pulled away from him, he picked up her bag and put his arm on her shoulder, leading her to his car. Joe followed him and after Tai had shut the door for Sora, Joe said, "Don't worry, I'll go pick up Kari and T.K. You both have enough to deal with. Sora doesn't need to explain this to anyone right now."

"Thanks, Joe."

"Anytime."

Tai drove her home and helped her to her apartment. He opened the door for her and she walked in like a zombie, no emotion on her face, but gazing at the floor as if she were pretending to listen to it. "Thanks, Tai," she said sadly before moving to her room and closing the door. Tai went to place Sora's backpack on the table in the kitchen and found her mother there.

"Oh, hi Ms. Takenouchi," he said dully.

"Tai, what's wrong?"

"I don't know if Sora wants me to tell you, but I think you should know. Matt broke up with Sora today after school and she isn't handling it very well."

"I knew that boy would break my baby's heart!" she said angrily. "He was a bad seed from the start. I told her not to be seen with him, but no, she thought she was in love!"

"Ms. Takenouchi, please don't tell Sora I told you. I think she would want to come to you when she's ready." He didn't even feel the need to defend his best friend. That began to bother him, but then again, Sora had been hurt so deeply, he wasn't sure if he could ever forgive Matt himself.

"Don't worry, I won't," she said. "Just leave her to me. Will your sister be home tonight?"

"I think so."

"Have her call me," she said. "Thank you for taking care of my baby girl, Tai."

"Anytime." He left Sora's apartment and drove back to his own. When he got inside he found Kari sitting on the couch pretending to read but really watching her favorite TV show. "Hey Kari?"

"Hey Tai," she said cheerfully, but her smile disappeared at the look on Tai's face. "What's wrong?"

"Ms. Takenouchi wants you to call her. I think she may want your help with Sora." He was tired and angry and sad all at the same time all he wanted to do was sleep, but he had homework to do.

"Why?" she said with fearful eyes. "What happened to Sora?"

"Joe didn't tell you?" She shook her head. He took a deep breath and released it. How many times would he have to explain this? "Matt broke up with Sora today at the end of school. She isn't taking it very well."

Before he even finished, Kari had her cell in her hand calling Sora's main line. Tai just listened to try and understand why Ms. Takenouchi wanted Kari to call. "Hi Toshiko, how is she? ... That bad huh? ... Yeah, I'll get them together. She likes the good stuff, right? ... Got it, we'll be there in an hour. ... Bye, Toshi."

She looked up at her big brother who was wearing a confused look on his face. Normally Kari would have laughed at him, but this was no laughing matter. Broken hearts took a lot of time to heal. "I'm going to go to Sora's. Girls know there is only one remedy for a broken heart: lots of talk and lots of ice cream." Tai's confusion disappeared with a shrug and he headed into his room to work on his homework.

Kari used her crutches to hobble into the kitchen to tell her mom where she was going and why she wouldn't be home for a while. Her mom told her to pack a bag in case she needed to stay over night and that she would give her a ride to the store to get ice cream and Yolei and then to Sora's.

Tai looked up as his sister entered his room. They only had one computer for them to use, the other was for his dad. "Yep, see ya in one," she said before closing her cell. She turned her attention to Tai. "I know I'm bothering you, but would you go with me to the digital world, Tai? I need to pick up Mimi and I don't want to go alone after what happened to T.K."

"No problem, I can't concentrate anyway." The trip was very quick. They entered the digital world, found Mimi with Michael, who had also been an escort so Mimi was not alone, and the three were soon back in Tai's room.

"What a jerk," said Mimi. "You think you know a guy."

"Don't I know it," said Kari. "If I hadn't already bought my tickets for Matt's concert, I probably wouldn't even go tonight."

"Oh, no!" yelled Mimi. "What are we going to do with Sora? We can't make her go, but we can't just leave her!"

"We'll talk to her about it," said Kari. "Well, we better go. See you later, Tai. Have fun writing your poem."

"Yeah, yeah."

Mrs. Kamiya drove the girls to Yolei's store where they picked up Yolei and ice cream; strawberry for Mimi, chocolate for Kari, cookies 'n cream for Yolei, and triple fudge mocha cherry a.k.a. 'the good stuff', for Sora. When they arrived at her house they knew exactly what to do. They opened her bedroom door slowly and found her lying on her bed, face stained with tears. They asked her if she wanted to talk, but she said no. "We have ice cream," said Mimi. "You know as well as I do that drowning yourself in a pint of ice cream helps the healing process."

It was hard, but they eventually got her to pull herself from her bed. She was dressed in a pair of grey sweatpants that said 'Odaiba Dragons' with a tennis ball for the 'O'. She wore a white tank top and black flip-flops. She looked like hell, but it was understandable.

"Now, what happened?" asked Mimi as they ate ice cream in Sora's living room. "You're a strong girl and he brought you to this? I mean, you cry, but you have always bounced back quicker than anyone I know of."

So, Sora relived what happened in her mind and relayed it to the girls. "Please tell me you hit the asshole," said Yolei. "Anyone who does that deserves a good beating."

"I did, but I'm not proud of it. I know I didn't hit him that hard, but he crippled when I punched him in the gut. I've seen Tai hit him way harder than that and it hardly fazes him."

"You punched him in the gut! Ha ha ha, way to go, Sora!" yelled Kari, provoking praise from the other girls as well.

"I can't believe he was seeing another girl while he was still dating you. How low can you get?" said Mimi.

"Oh well," said Yolei, "at least you're rid of him. You're better off without him."

"Why did you fall for him anyway?" asked Kari. "I mean, it's Matt. It's not like he shows his feelings."

To their surprise, Sora dropped her spoon and burst into a new bout of tears. Mimi rushed to her side and rubbed her back. Once she had stopped she answered Kari's question. "He always made me feel special, like I was the only girl in the world. I was captivated by him. He wasn't like any of the other guys at school with girlfriends. I would overhear his conversations with his buddies. He never called me hot like I was some piece of meat; he called me beautiful like I was a goddess, even when I wasn't wearing makeup. He always said little things like 'I love you' and 'I'm the luckiest guy in the world. I have you.' Sure we had our spats. Some of them were on the phone and even if I hung up on him, he would call me right back to try and fix it. Then, the next day, I would have a bouquet of blue irises in my locker. They were my favorite flower, but there was always a note that said there were no flowers that could rival my beauty. He would give me kisses on the forehead and he was never afraid to hold my hand in public. When someone would ask who his girlfriend was, even if I had just gotten out of a three hour match in ninety degree weather and looked worse than I do now, he would point at me and say 'that's her.'" Her voice started to get closer and closer to tears again as she continued. The three girls could tell that though he had humiliated her and broken her trust, she still loved him.

"Hey, Sora," said Yolei, "I know this is a really insensitive time to ask you this, but are you still going to go to Matt's concert tonight?"

Sora gave her a look that could scare a grizzly. "No," she said flatly.

"Actually," said Mimi, "that's not a bad idea. Kari, is Tai going?"

"I don't know."

"Call him. We might not be able to physically kill the guy, but we can still get back at him." Mimi had a devilish glint in her eye. "Michael and I did this after his last break up and it worked like a charm. We're going to make you sexy tonight and you'll go with Tai to Matt's concert. When he sees that what he's done hasn't' affected you, he'll go berserk, and he might even take you back because of how sexy you look."

"I have Tai on the phone, Sora," said Kari. "I told him Mimi's plan and he said he's all for it if you are."

Sora sat there for a few moments with the same crippling glare on her face. It eventually disappeared and she said in a tired voice, "How do I let you guys talk me into this stuff?"

There were squeals of delight as Kari told Tai to get ready and look nice and the other girls pushed her into the bathroom. "Now," said Mimi, "Take a shower and don't use any smelly soap. We want to make you smell like you do every time you go on a date, but stronger. It will make the guy weak." She closed the door as the girls went to Sora's room, but found nothing sexy enough for her to wear.

"I have an idea," said Yolei as she rushed out of the room.

"So, Tai hates this idea," said Kari sarcastically. "I was telling him the plan and I only got to the part where he took her to the concert and he said yes."

"Well of course," said Mimi, "Tai has liked Sora just as much as Matt and for just as long as Matt. He would be able to pass up an opportunity like this."

"You knew? How?"

"Honey, I have a sixth sense about these sorts of things. I also know your secret. How long have you and T.K. been seeing each other?"

"Is it that obvious?"

Mimi giggled. "No, I just know what to look for. So how long?"

"About a month. Nobody else knows except Matt. He saw us holding hands one day."

"And he didn't tell anyone?"

"No, that's why this whole situation is confusing me. He changed so suddenly. At first Sora thought that it was just the darkness, but when he said that he had been seeing someone else that means that this had been going on before our last mission happened. I wonder who she is."

"Who?"

"The other girl."

They were interrupted by a purple-haired girl sticking her head through the door. "I'm a genius," she said. She stepped in the door holding a sexy little black dress with silver cherry blossom leaves decorating the bottom of the skirt. It was a mid-thigh dress with a mid-hip slit on both sides. It had a high Chinese style collar with a v-neck that would show off her 'assets'. The sleeves stopped right before the shoulder and were also hemmed in silver. Yolei was also carrying open toed black high heeled shoes, a silver cubic zirconia teardrop necklace, and long thread earring also jewel in cubic zirconia.

"Where did you get that?!" asked Kari in amazement.

"Toshiko is more than willing to help get back at Matt," said Yolei. It was actually very surprising how close the girls were with each other's mother.

Soon, Sora emerged from the bathroom and they began working with her hair. They dried in and pulled it into a clip shaped like a cherry blossom branch. After they were done with her hair, they did their make up together: eye shadow, eyeliner, lipstick, the works. They even painted their finger and toe nails. They asked what perfume she wore when she went on dates with Matt and she indicated the Japanese cherry blossom perfume that he had bought her for her birthday. They put enough on her so that everyone could smell it, but it wasn't overpowering. It was amazing what Mimi could do. When they were done with that, they had her put on the dress, shoes and jewelry. They waited out in the kitchen with Toshiko while she got dressed. When she opened the door they were all forced to gasp. She looked so elegant, so mature, and damn sexy. No guy in their right mind could deny her in this get up. They looked at each other with satisfied looks.

Kari looked at her watch. "Just in time too. Tai should be here any minute."

Just as she finished, her phone rang. It was Tai telling them that he was there. "We'll be right down," said Kari. "Come on, girls. It's time to make a rock star jealous."

When they got to the car, Mimi and Yolei dove into the back seat. Tai was shocked by how beautiful Sora looked and she was happy to see how nice he looked. He had put on khaki pants with brown shoes and a blue polo shirt with thin yellow lines cutting horizontally across the body. His white cast signed in every color of the rainbow was the only thing that looked tacky, but she knew he couldn't help that. He looked cute with his reddened face, staring at her like Matt always did. She pushed him out of her head. Even when she hated him he still plagued her mind with his smile. "You look beautiful," he said breaking the silence.

"You look good too, Tai."

Kari tried to convince Sora to take the front seat with Tai, but lost. Sora knew it would be too hard for Kari to get in and out of the back seat with her cast and crutches. They all got in the car and drove to the concert in downtown Odaiba. A huge tent had been erected in the center of the park to serve as a shelter from the rain that was evidently going to come. The smell of rain loomed in the air and lightning could be seen flashing in the distance. They ran into the other digidestined outside the entrance and, to the girls' delight, Sora was receiving many lusty looks from the guys around her. Their plan was working.

They entered the tent and inside Matt and his band were greeting those that entered. This was another reason why Sora loved Matt so much. He was a star, but he still acted as though they were a garage band. He was still humble, or at least she had thought so before today. Matt saw them coming and turned to talk with someone else. As Sora passed by without giving him any attention, Mimi and Kari watched him, and sure enough, his head turned as she passed. They heard him take a death breath through his nose, indicating that he was smelling her perfume. Yolei was giggling so hard they other two thought they were going to be discovered, but they passed without a hitch.

They all took their seats in the front row and waited until the show started. Davis, T.K. and the others were asking Sora how she was doing, and just like the girls had told her to, she acted as though getting dumped by Matt was a daily occurrence. They had told her that guys talk about what they hear too, especially when it comes to girls. She got a lot of apologies from the guys for what happened to her and she learned that they were all almost as mad at Matt as she was.

Suddenly, the lights dimmed and the crowd let out a loud cheer. The lights came up and the band started their first song 'In Fates Hands' (Red Jumpsuit Apparatus). It was one of Sora's favorites, but then again, she loved all of their songs. The crowd sang with the band as they rocked the stage. Matt sang many of the songs that Sora loved after that. 'It Ends Tonight' (All American Rejects), 'Higher' (Creed), 'It's Not Over' (Daughtry), 'Better Days' (Goo Goo Dolls), which Sora remembered he had written for her after their first fight, 'Face Down' (Red Jumpsuit Apparatus), 'Your Guardian Angel' (Red Jumpsuit Apparatus), 'Perfect' (Simple Plan), 'Puppet' (Thousand Foot Krutch), and 'Welcome To My Life' (Simple Plan). Each of these songs had meaning to Sora as Matt had either written them for her, with her, or sang them to her at some point. Each one held a memory that pulled at her heart, but she knew she couldn't cry.

"Hey everybody," said Matt into his microphone, "thanks for coming out tonight. Umm, as many of you know, I just broke up with my girlfriend today…" This was met by an astounding roar of boo's. Sora knew this should make her feel better, but she still felt bad for Matt. He was getting pummeled with hate. "I know, I know. You guys don't have to tell me, I know I am a total ass, and though she doesn't know it now," said Matt as he shifted his gaze to her, "I did do it for her. It won't make sense now, and I don't want it to, but maybe one day she will understand. But for right now, I am an ass, and that is the way it needs to be."

His words confused everyone in the audience, but no one seemed to care. Sora was one of them, except she did. She wanted to know what he meant by 'he did it for her.' He killed her inside and broke her. How could this possibly be for her own good? If there weren't so many people there she would have jumped on stage and decked him again.

"This song is what I figure was going through her head. It's call 'The Truth' (Good Charlotte)."

Matt sat down at a gorgeous, glossy black piano and began to play a beautifully sad melody. His voice rang over a silent crowd as he played.

_So here we are _

_We are alone _

_There's weight on your mind _

_And I want to know _

_The truth _

_That this is how you feel _

_Say it to me _

_If this was ever real _

The trap set began with a slow, quiet rock beat.

_I want the truth from you _

_Give me the truth even if it hurts me _

_I want the truth from you _

_Give me the truth even if it hurts me_

_I want the truth_

The drums played louder than before, threatening to drown out the piano, but failing. 

_So this is you _

_You're talking to me _

_You found a million ways to let me down _

_So I'm not hurt when you're not around _

_I was blind _

_But now I see _

_This is how you feel _

_Just say it to me _

_If this was ever real _

_I want the truth from you _

_Give me the truth even if it hurts me _

_I want the truth from you _

_Give me the truth even if it hurts me _

_I know that this will break me _

_I know that this might make me cry _

_You gotta say what's on your mind, on your mind _

_I know that this will hurt me _

_And break my heart and soul inside _

_But I don't wanna live this lie _

_I want the truth from you _

_Give me the truth even if it hurts me_

Sora could hear his voice starting to strain. She knew this only happened when he was trying not to cry when he sang, which was extremely rare.

_I want the truth from you _

_Give me the truth even if it hurts _

_I don't care no more, no _

_Just give me the truth _

_Give me the truth _

_'Cause I don't care no more _

_Give me the truth _

_'Cause I don't care no more, no _

_Just give me the truth _

_Give me the truth _

_Give me the truth _

_Give me the truth _

_Give me the truth _

_Give me the truth _

_'Cause I don't care no more, no! _

The drums stopped and the piano continued to play for a couple seconds before fading into silence. There was a moment of silence which tugged at Sora's heart.

There was an outburst of applause and everyone stood up except for Sora and Mimi, who had noticed her friend's tears. _He knew what I was feeling and he still did it?_ Her tears started to flow and she ran down the aisle. She lost her shoes as she was running, but she didn't care. She wanted to be anywhere but there. Everyone that could see her stared as she ran and pointed for those who couldn't. "Sora wait!" she barely heard Mimi yell over the cheers.

Sora ran out the entrance and into the heavy ran. She couldn't even see half a block, but she didn't need to, she knew exactly where she was going. She turned left and followed the tent to the side door where she always waited for Matt when he was done with his concerts. A security guard would open it for her and allow her into the backstage area where she would hang out with Matt and his band. Over the past six months she had become very close to Yutaka, Akira, and Takashi, but this time the security guard didn't opened the door. She figured he wouldn't, so she waited.

For ten minutes, Sora waited in the rain. The cold water drenched her hair, causing it to slip from its elegant pin. She felt the water run down her back and legs where it puddle at her bare, frozen feet. It ran over her face, washing away the makeup until her face was clean as a newborn babe's. The smell of cherry blossoms slowly faded as the rain washed away her perfume, leaving its own scent in its stead. She shivered as the chill pushed through her clothes and against her soft white skin. The wind forced the cold to her very core until she was shaking so profusely that she could barely control herself when Matt opened the door with his umbrella in hand.

When he saw her, he froze and lightning cracked, momentarily lighting their faces. Their eyes locked for a moment in which Sora could have sworn she saw the glint in his eyes that had always shown her that he loved her. But as quickly as it had come, it left again, replaced by the red nothingness. "What's up?" he said.

She just stood there in the freezing rain with her skin glistening, arms at her sides, staring at the man she couldn't decide if she still loved or not. He walked over to her and handed her his umbrella, which she took without really thinking about it. "If you stay out here, you're going to get sick," his voice was dull, yet hinted that he cared. "Go see Takashi, I'm sure he'd love to talk to you right now."

He turned to walk away but after a few steps, someone yelled at him, "If you knew how much it hurt me, why did you do it? I heard your voice during that song. It hurt you as much as it did me, didn't it?"

He stopped and turned, he was now also soaked. His usually perfect hair was straight and sticking to his flawless face. His stage makeup still clung to him as it was meant to withstand water and sweat, but it was nearly at its limit. "No, I knew what I was doing. It had to be done."

"Don't lie!"

"I'm not!!"

"But you loved me!"

"I never loved you, Sora!!" These words shot through her heart like an arrow and the two stood facing each other in silence.

"So you really don't care for me?" she asked, her voice shaking with tears. She let the tears flow from her eyes; no one would be able to tell in this weather. He walked toward her and stood with her under the umbrella. They were so close and he had to look down to look into her face. It was faint, but they could both make out the smell of cherry blossoms. She noticed that all of the stage makeup had finally washed away, and his blue eyes sparkled like the ocean with no red in sight. He pulled of the white button up long-sleeve he was wearing. It was as soaked as the rest of his body. He wrung it out and placed it around her shoulders, allowing warmth to seep back into her frozen flesh.

In the mean time, Sora had been looking him over in pain. The white beater that he wore under his shirt was soaked through, exposing every part of his upper body for her to see. His arms were bruised around his biceps as if someone had been holding him in the same place to thwart escapes. There was a bruise on his jaw, but she had seen that before, and another at the base of his neck where it turned to his shoulder. There was yet another on his chest, but the one that sickened her was the one on his stomach. It was deep purple, red and green, as if someone had hit him there several times over a few days. "Matt, is that from me?" she said reaching her hand for it but not daring to get too close.

"No," he said more kindly placing his hand on her chin, "that isn't from you. Now, go inside before you get sick." He looked as though he was going to kiss her, but dropped his hand, turned and walked a short distance before being called by someone else.

"Matt, wait up!"

T.K. ran to his brother, the two were close enough to see their actions, but the rain drowned out their voices, making the conversation inaudible. Matt stared at his brother, his arms crossed across his stomach to hide his bruise. "Sora, you ok?" asked Kari.

"Yeah, I guess," she said, but she was fixated on the brothers' conversation. It started calmly but soon they appeared to be yelling. Matt started to walk back toward the group, T.K. leading him by his arm. Sora heard T.K. say "Apologize to Sora," as they approached and Matt pulled away with a wince. Their conversation was now completely audible by the entire group, and they both knew it.

"Is it really necessary, everyone can hear us now, T.K.!"

"I don't care! You need to make this right! It's one thing to break up with someone, but is a completely different situation when you do it in front of the school! I'm not saying that you need to apologize for breaking up, but you do for embarrassing her like that!"

"Oh, now you are the expert on people's feelings?!"

"You should at least respect your friends and explain why? You shouldn't keep secrets from your friends!"

"Yeah, this coming from someone who is keeping the fact that he is dating Kari from his!"

T.K. stared at him in shock, his mouth hung open and his body froze. He looked back at the group and noticed all of the surprised faces. Kari was looking down in embarrassment and Davis was giving T.K. a glare of daggers. "You promised, Matt. You promised," said T.K., so much hurt in his voice it was surprising that Davis's glare _hadn't_ been daggers. _You promised, Matt. You promised_. The words rang in Matt's head as he pictured the bloody T.K. of both his dream and his reality, and lowered his hands to his sides. T.K. glared up into Matt's red, uncaring eyes. Matt wasn't even paying attention to him. "You promised!" he screamed as his fist connected with his brother's stomach.

Sora gasped at Matt's agonized grunt when T.K. hit him. Blood flew from Matt's mouth, mixing with the rain, but after staggering for a few moments, he regained his posture. He just gazed at T.K. with his stone eyes of blood. T.K. didn't know why, but the eyes angered him more than what Matt had done. Those red eyes were what were pulling Matt's life apart. T.K lunged forward and landed a right hook right on Matt's jaw line. Matt flew backwards and landed right on his side facing the group. Sora thought she could just make out a smirk on Matt's face, but she was sure it was just the trick of the light.

"My turn!" yelled Tai as he ran for the blonde. "I owe you this for earlier." He drew back his fist to land a punch on Matt, but Matt grabbed his arm as it flew at him and landed his own punch into Tai's stomach. Tai backed up and wincingly looked up at Matt.

Everyone saw the blood that seeped through Matt's beater at his stomach and that his stitches had completely ripped open when he struck Tai. "Matt," whispered Sora.

"How are we supposed to deal with you?" yelled Cody to everyone's astonishment. "You're supposed to be our friend. If the darkness takes over you we could lose you forever. Let us help you!"

"How are you supposed to deal with me?" said Matt, staring at his ripped hand before looking up into the sky, letting the cold rain wash over his face. "Don't worry, you don't have to. There is nothing you can fix." Then he turned and started to walk home in the freezing rain with no shirt and no umbrella. No one could do anything but watch him go.

Suddenly everyone heard Kari. "Davis, I owe you an explanation." She thought about what Matt had told her. _You need to be honest with your friends and let him know that even though you and T.K. are together, he still is dear to you. _"T.K. and I have been dating for about a month now, but we didn't know how to tell you. I know you have feelings for me, Davis, and even though T.K. and I are together, you are still very important to me. I was afraid if you knew, you would drift away and I would never see you again." She was beginning to cry. "I never meant to hurt you, Davis, and that is why I didn't tell you. Please don't go away, Davis; you're one of my best friends. Life wouldn't be as bright if you weren't here."

Everyone held their breath as they waited for Davis's response. They were relieved when Davis pulled her into a tight embrace. "You're important to me too, and if your happiness means you try it with T.L., I won't stop you. I just wish you would have trusted me with this earlier."

"I'm sorry, Davis," she cried.

"So am I, Davis," said T.K. "I should have told you, too."

Davis walked over to T.K. and put his hand on his shoulder. "I won't fight you on this T.F., but I swear, if you ever do anything to hurt Kari, I will gut you like a fish and mount you on a plaque above my TV."

Everyone was taken aback for a minute, but let loose when T.K. and Davis started to laugh. Everyone else laughed with the group, except one. Sora had totally missed the conversation as she watched the man she loved disappear into the pouring rain, a bluish tattoo showing through his beater between his shoulders, the scent of cherry blossoms filling the air.

* * *

The weekend passed quickly and was pretty uneventful. Sora had gone home and cried to her mother and the other girls who stayed over night. Matt was not heard from at all and T.K. spent some time with Davis to make sure he was really ok with him and Kari. Over the rest of the weekend, Sora spent a lot of time with her mom, who tried her best to console her daughter, but had a hard time doing so as she hated Matt to begin with. 

The only excitement for the weekend was on Saturday night. The digidestined, minus Matt, met at Tai's house and discussed what to do about their friend. Almost every digidestined had expressed the fact that they felt betrayed by Matt by what he did to Sora, and they weren't sure if they could ever forgive him.

"But we can't stay mad at him forever," said T.K. "Most of what he's doing has to be because of Deinomon's attack."

"That's the problem, T.K.," said Mimi, "the girls and I had been talking about it at Sora's house and even if most of them were because of that, the cheating still couldn't have been. It sounded like he had been doing this even before we went on our mission, before the attack."

"I don't believe it," said T.K.

"Neither did I at first, T.K., but after last night I'm not so sure it is the darkness," said Tai. "He still half acts like Matt. When you hit him, he didn't fight back even though he was more than capable. I went after him to see if I was right about the darkness, and he fought back. What I'm trying to say is, I think Matt is still acting on his own accord or else the darkness would have fought you back, not just me."

"Also T.K., if his actions were due to the darkness, why did he wait?" asked Ken, looking out a window. "I've been controlled by darkness too, but I found whenever it wanted something done, it just did it, there was no waiting for the opportune moment. If it was darkness, Matt would have told Davis about you and Kari right away and drove you apart immediately when we got back, not waited until you were there to defend yourself."

T.K. just sat there, taking in the truths that his friends were speaking. "Your right," he said sadly. "He did do it on his own." He hit the floor with his fist. "Damn it, Matt! I hate you!"

Suddenly, T.K. gave an agonized yell and gripped his shirt above his heart. The others ran to his side. "T.K.," yelled Kari, "what's wrong?!" Tai laid him down on his couch and Joe, taking the role of doctor, pulled off T.K.'s shirt so that he could inspect him. The sight stunned everyone.

The curse mark that Phorcysmon had placed on T.K. was acting very weird. The two intertwined hearts looked as though they were trying to pull apart and T.K. gave a cry at each tug. Tai was happy his parents had decided to go to the movies. The hearts eventually pulled apart with a loud scream from T.K. As the boy sat gasping for air, the upside-down heart moved away from the right one and stopped at his shoulder. A small cut appeared in the center of that heart and the blood that had filled it slowly began to empty down T.K.'s arm and chest. Eventually, all of the blood was gone and only the outline remained. The black outline of the irregular heart seemed to scatter and disappear, and the teens turned their attention to the other heart. It had remained the same, still filled with blood and still over T.K.'s heart, but it soon appeared to sink into T.K.'s chest and disappear.

"That has got to be the weirdest thing I have ever seen," said Davis. "T.F., you ok?"

"Yeah," he gasped, "I think so."

"What was that?" asked Yolei.

"It means that the deal Matt had with Phorcysmon is complete," said Sora. She didn't move from the window she had been sitting in when T.K. started to scream. She had thought something like that would happen. _This symbol is my insurance_. _This is a curse seal. When the deal is complete, it will disappear, but if it is not completed in the time we agreed upon, the seal will destroy him. Do you understand?_

Everyone else seemed to recall the conversation as well. Everyone decided that they should probably call it a night and let T.K. get some rest. As Sora started to leave, Tai grabbed her shoulder. He looked like he was about to comfort her, but changed his mind. "What time do you want me to pick you up tomorrow?"

* * *

Soon, Sora was in Tai's car on the way back to school since her car was still parked there. Tai had promised he would be there to take her to each class so she didn't have to bear the pity stares as she walked alone, and sure enough, the entire school knew what had happened to her and she was given consolation after consolation. When she finally got to her locker, she put in the combination and opened it. Tears welled in her eyes at the sight. A bouquet of blue irises and forget-me-nots hung from one of the hooks. She reached in and pulled the card that was tucked into the bouquet and opened it. All it said it 'Hopefully one day you will understand.' 

She was so sick of hearing that. Why couldn't he tell her now? She let out a yell of frustration and ripped the flowers from her locker. She found Takashi and yelled, "Where is he?!"

Akira looked at her and scowled. "If you're talking about the shit-head, we don't know. We haven't seen him since he quit the band on Friday."

"What?" She hadn't expected that.

"Yep," said Takashi through clenched teeth. "The jerk quit and we have one week before Battle of the Bands. We were guaranteed a win this year; that record deal would have been ours!"

"Why?" asked Sora. Sora knew that Matt loved his band and always told her he would die before leaving them.

"He said it wasn't fun anymore," said Yutaka. The warning bell rang and the students started toward their first period class. "See ya, Takenouchi."

"Bye guys," she responded. Tai brought her to her first period and left for his own. She was met with sympathetic stares from everyone as she entered the room, including the teacher. _This is going to be a long day._

The whole day went this way. Tai brought her to each of her classes and Izzy and Joe sat with the two at lunch, trying to block people's stares. Eventually, Sora and Tai were going to the same class. They entered to more caring eyes, even though Sora knew most of them were only doing it because everyone else was. It was really starting to annoy her.

The pair sat in their chairs and when the tardy bell rang, the seat between them remained empty. Ms. Iwata welcomed the class and asked them to all take out the poems they had written. Sora pulled hers out and began to read it to herself, tears welled in her eyes and she prayed she wouldn't have to read it aloud.

Many students were asked to read aloud. They were all bad poems. Everyone had been looking forward to hearing Matt's. Since he was a song writer, his poems always seemed to have a musical quality and really pulled an emotion from you.

Tai had just finished his poem about how his first love was a soccer ball named Puma. Ms. Iwata rubbed her temples in annoyance. "Ms. Ichiru, please tell me you have one done and it is long enough."

"Yes Ms. Iwata. I call this _Will true love come my way?_ (actually the last verse of this poem by Frank Maguire). Ehem…

'_I ponder, but don't contemplate  
I look for love and trust in fate  
I pray I hope and still I wait  
For true love to come my way.'_"

"Very good, Ms. Ichiru, very good. That is the best I've heard all day. Now how about we hear the one I am always looking forward to. Matt is the only missing student who actually followed instructions and emailed me his poem. It is called _Loneliness is Love_ (actually by Kurt Rose).

'

Let me alone now  
Let me drown in my dreams  
Let me fly in the endless blue  
And forgive me for my love  
Of solitude

I would come to you if I could  
I would love you  
But I know only this solitary self  
And I do not want to die

Sora could feel the tears welling in her eyes again. It sounded like a goodbye letter. She remembered Matt's parting words. _How are you supposed to deal with me? Don't worry, you don't have to. There is nothing you can fix. _

_He must have ran away,_ she thought, but decided not to share her idea with Tai. It looked like he was thinking the same thing anyway.

"Ok, we have time for one more poem," said her teacher. _Please not me! Please not me! _thought Sora. "How about… Sora." _Crap._

She stood and tried to prepare herself for the tears that she knew were going to come. She stood and cleared her throat. "I named this poem _Heartbroken_ (actually by Nghi Nguyen).

'_Is there a better place,  
To be right now,  
Than to be home,  
Listening to the crickets' sounds,  
Outside the windows.  
Is there a better place,  
To be right now,  
Than in the bed,  
Closing my eyes,  
Falling into a deep sleep,  
To forget about the days,  
Forget about the nights,  
Forget about you._"_  
_

Her voice started to break as the tears started to well in her eyes again.

_  
"Heartbroken,  
Nothing better than to sleep,  
To forget that you are gone,  
To forget your lies,  
Forget the way,  
You told me,  
You never loved me,  
Forget the way,  
You looked at me,  
When you left me,  
I want to forget,  
I want to leave this world,  
Close my eyes,  
Fall to sleep to stop the heart,  
From beating."_

_  
_The tears started to flow heavily from her eyes and she was embarrassed to be reading this in front of the class. She had written this that night after Matt had left in the rain.

_  
"I block my ears,  
From hearing the sounds,  
Like your voice,  
Like when you sing to me,  
Those lovely songs,  
They sounded to tender,  
Now they kill me,  
They hurt me,  
I don't want to hear anything,  
Don't want to hear the waves,  
Hitting against the sand,  
Don't want to hear the birds,  
Chirping outside the windows.  
Don't want to see my face,  
Don't want to see you,  
Don't want anything,  
That has to do with you,  
I want to close,  
I want to block away,  
The world to stop the pain,  
In my heart.  
I want my heart to stop beating,  
To stop bleeding,  
From your words,  
Your lies."_

Once she was done she grabbed her things and left the room with no objection from Ms. Iwata, as her eyes were welled with tears too. She heard Tai get up to follow her but she ran as hard as she could to her car. She found the keys in her bag and jammed them into her car door unlocking it. Before Tai had even made it to her car, she turned over the engine and took off for home.

Meanwhile, T.K. got called to the office for a phone call. Once he got there, they told him it was from his father. "Hey dad, what's up?"

"T.K.," his voice was frantic, "I...I didn't know who else to call. Your mother wasn't at home…and…"

"Whoa, dad; slow down. What's wrong?" he was frightened by his father's hysteria.

"It's Matt, T.K."

"What?" T.K. was engulfed both in rage for his brother's actions and in concern for his brother's safety.

"T.K., he's gone!"

* * *

Ok, I'm pretty sure everyone had to have seen that coming, but where has he gone? Another plot twist and another adventure begins!!!! See you in a couple weeks. Reviews are extremely welcome, good or bad, just tell me why. 


	10. Unwanted Knowledge

Ok be prepared for this chapter, things are going to start coming together and that will continue to the next. I'm sure everyone has figured it out already and to be honest I think this chapter is a little dry, but I can't figure out how to make it better. Damn writer's block. This one makes me sad, but it also feels a little rushed. I didn't want to make another 22 page chapter. Don't own digimon, wish I did.

WARNING: the same as every other chapter.

* * *

"Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance." 

**George Bernard Shaw**

* * *

It had been a month since T.K. had received the news of his brother's disappearance and it ate away at him like a hungry Fangmon. His brother, the person that had promised to always be by T.K.'s side had abandoned him, his friends, and his family. T.K. remembered the following month like it was a dream. _Things like this don't happen to good people,_ thought T.K. as he replayed the events in his mind. 

Most of them occurred within the first week after Matt had left. Of course the digidestined were worried, but they were sure they knew where to find him; the digital world. They had gone to Hiro to tell him their plans of searching for him there, but the idea was thwarted. After they told him their plans, he handed them Matt's digivice. He had also found a note by the object and he handed it to Sora. She read the on word note aloud, 'Goodbye.' So just as quickly as their rescue mission had started, it was finished. Matt couldn't enter the digiworld without his digivice. He had also left his car and all of his things behind. Hiro said the only thing missing was a navy blue leather journal that usually sat by his son's bed.

The days seemed like years over the next few weeks. T.K. was taking Matt's runaway harder than anyone had expected. They expected moping and tears, not the remission he began to go into. He stopped talking and didn't hang out with anyone for a while. Not a tear was shed for his older brother, but he didn't show emotion for anything else either. He had gone completely numb, but thankfully after three weeks, Kari successfully pulled the blonde out of his solitude and back to the way he used to be. Unfortunately, he still had random moments of emotional breakdown, but no one held it against him.

The others took it hard as well, especially when they were questioned by the police. They had asked if they had seen any change in their friend's behavior or if they noticed anything suspicious about the boy's appearance. They told the officers everything, but Tai left out the part about the abuse, as did the others with Matt's bruises.

Mimi had seen her best friend fall into a depressed state for a while too. Unfortunately, Sora still held feelings for the guy and couldn't deal with his departure. Eventually, Mimi was able to console her as Kari had with T.K. and Sora was back to the ways she was before her breakup, but she still missed him terribly.

But then again, who didn't. His absence was felt in everyone. A hole had developed that no one had realized was filled by the blonde haired boy while he was there. His band had tried to find a new bass player/singer, but no one was good enough to take Matt's place, in their opinion. Tai, Davis, and Ken all noticed the empty seat in the bleachers that was normally occupied by him during their soccer games. The random cheers that Sora had always heard during her tennis matches were gone. Mimi no longer had a weekly hour chat on Wednesday nights, and her laughter no longer rang through her home during that time like it used to. Cody had no one to talk to when he was stressed and Joe started to realize how hard it was to study without his silent friend sitting with him at the library. Izzy missed the barrage of questions as he worked on his computer. Yolei and Kari didn't have the wise boy to go to with their problems, and of course, T.K., though he had spent so many years without Matt, now felt like half of his soul had been taken away, especially when the search for his brother by the police ended after three weeks due to lack of leads.

The digidestined remained strong, however. They had soon realized that Matt was one of the reasons that they came together so often. His concerts gave them an excuse to get together, and without him, there seemed to be a connection missing, so they made sure they got together and hung out at least three times a week.

On the one month anniversary of his disappearance, Tai decided it was time that the group talked about it. They had mentioned that they were sad or that they missed him, but the group had never _really_ talked about it, and Tai was starting to worry that more of his friends may follow T.K. and Sora, but not come out of it. He wanted to take care of the problem before it was too late and he wanted them to start searching for Matt on their own since the police had given up.

The group decided to meet at Matt's apartment so that they could talk to Hiro if they needed and search Matt's room. T.K. had convinced his mother to come as well. Even though his parents had been divorced for eight years, they still spoke from time to time, and T.K. thought she might actually talk about Matt if his dad was around. She wouldn't speak to T.K. about it, and in fact it made him angry that she hardly seemed to miss him at all.

The group sat there talking for a while, telling stories and trying to make light of the situation. Sora had bought Akira with her as moral support, and he was the one in the band taking Matt's disappearance the hardest. Davis told a story about how Matt had helped him understand why the digi-egg of friendship had chosen him and T.K. told one about the time Matt tried to teach him how to play the guitar, which caused the group to laugh in amusement. Tai was the one who initiated the search of Matt's room.

"Nothing really seems to be out of place," said T.K., "and nothing seems to be missing."

"That's really weird, where is he going to go without any clothes. Hiro said all he took was his leather journal," said Ken.

"But his motorcycle is missing," said Yolei. "Unfortunately, that means he could be all the way on the other side of Japan by now."

"Maybe there's something on his computer," said Izzy. He pulled out Matt's chair and sat in front of the module. He turned on the computer and let out a gasp.

"What?" asked Tai.

"He really doesn't want to be found," said Izzy, typing ferociously. (Now, I am not good with computers so if this isn't possible, pretend it is. Thanks :) ). "Matt erased everything from his computer. I knew something was up when he asked me how to erase a hard drive!"

"I thought you couldn't," said Ken.

"You can't and that is what I told him. It looks like he took the hard drive out and was running the computer on an external one, a clean one."

"But Matt's not good with computers," said Joe. "Every time we're with you he's asking you questions. The kid only knows how to use some programs, not pull it apart."

"Well apparently he can. His original hard drive is gone, along with everything that was on it."

"Wait, if he didn't want anyone to find it, why did he make it so his computer still worked?" asked Yolei.

Izzy looked at her for a few moments and turned back to the computer, an idea shown on his face. He looked through the few programs Matt had until he found the internet and opened it. He opened the history and only one URL was present. Izzy dropped his head. "We were right," he said sadly.

"What do you mean?" asked Kari, afraid of what Izzy was about to say.

"This is the URL to the digiport. Only Yolei, Ken and I know it and it has to be typed in, it's not on any search engine. That's why we programmed it into each of your computers so you could open it whenever you wanted. Matt must have figured it out." Izzy was not afraid to talk about this in front of Akira. He knew that Matt's band knew about the digital world. Matt had told them everything when they had started it just in case something came up again.

"But without his digivice…" began Tai

"… it can still be done, theoretically," finished Ken. The other digidestined looked at him with confusion, so he decided to elaborate. "I had been working on this for quite some time, trying to figure out how the digital world knew where to send each of us to go home when only one person had to open the portal. I had been talking with Matt about it one day, trying to put my thoughts in order. I didn't know he actually understood what I was talking about."

"What?" asked Izzy.

"I hypothesized that you only need the digivice to _open_ the portal, not go through it. Theoretically, you can open the digiport, toss your digivice to the side and still go through, but this would result in not being able to return without the aid of another digidestined. I guess I was right."

The group was silent for a moment before Davis broke it. "Well then, we will just go look for Matt in the digital world. Without his digivice, he can't get back, so we need to go and get him."

Everyone was amazed that Davis actually understood what Ken had said, but believed it was a good idea anyway. Everyone watched as Izzy entered the URL and the portal popped up on the screen.

Akira had started to wave and leave, but stopped. There was something behind the closet door that the group hadn't noticed before, something that no one would have noticed if the door had been closed, or in his case, the light had not reflected off something shiny. He opened the door, which pulled the attention of all the other digidestined. "What's wrong, Akira?" asked Sora, walking to his side.

He turned and showed the digidestined the small package he had seen glinting behind the door. The group gazed at the package, wrapped in red and blue paper. Akira looked up at the group with tears in his eyes. "It's for Davis, and there are thirteen others in there too."

The group slowly moved to the closet and found there was a small present for each of them, wrapped in their respected crest colors. Akira found a small envelope for the band as well as a gift for Hiro and one for Natsuko, Matt's mother. They brought the gifts out into the living room and Tai went to get the two adults.

"What's up, Tai?" asked Hiro.

"Um, we found something for you and Natsuko in Matt's room. We think you should come into the living room and open it."

The two followed the boy out to the designated area where all the teens had congregated, looking at the gifts resting in their hands. They hesitated because they wondered if it was too early to open them in November, but one by one they opened their gift. Each had their name on it and a short message, "Merry Christmas; From Yamato."

Everyone knew that Matt always found their Christmas gifts early, but having something from him in their hands just seemed odd. Each found something that they had been wishing for in their box and showed them to the room. Glee filled their faces as they did this and it was almost like it was truly Christmas morning. After most of the digidestined opened their gifts, Natsuko and Hiro began to unwrap theirs.

Natsuko opened the small box to a mother's ring bejeweled with the four birthstones of their family. T.K. was happy to finally see her cry for her missing son. Hiro had a similar reaction when he opened his gift with the keys and title slip to Matt's car. Tai opened his to a letter. It thanked him for being such a good friend and helping him through all the hard times. A picture of his motorcycle fell out of the letter and fell in his lap. As he picked it up Davis said, "What's that on the back?"

Tai flipped over the picture. "It says, 'She's all yours, and don't worry, the crest will be right.'" There was an address of where he could pick it up and the date that he could get it. Akira opened the envelope addressed to the band. There was a letter that said he hoped they were able to find someone that made the band complete. Cody pointed out that something had fallen out of the envelope. Akira picked it up. It was a large summed check and in the memo it said, 'for the CD.' Sora opened hers as well. It was a small, long box that made her gasp when she opened it. Inside was a diamond bracelet.

T.K. just stared at the gift that lay in his lap. He was not as willing or able to feel the joy that emanated from all others in the room. _Why would he do this after all that he did to us. When he comes back he's __gonna__ want__ his car and motorcycle__ again anyway._ Everyone was looking at T.K., wondering what he had received, but to their surprise, T.K. just set the gift down on the end table and walked over to the window. "I don't want it and I don't care what it is." The group was astonished by his actions. "What makes him think that he can just leave and a gift will fix it all? The only thing I want is for him to come back." He clenched the material of his shirt that lay over his heart and squeezed his eyes shut. "I don't care if the curse mark comes back and finishes me off, I just want him here."

The others didn't know what to say. Natsuko was still crying as she had held it in too long and now T.K. was going through hell. The bliss that had filled the room was now strangled by the silence of depression and grief. Tai got up and rested his hand on T.K.'s shoulder, feeling the boy shaking unbeknownst to anyone else in the room. Tai knew T.K. was trying not to have another breakdown and the thought of his suffering pulled at Tai's heart. _How could you do this, Matt? Look what you've done to us."_

Suddenly, there was a bright flash of light that came from Matt's bedroom, breaking the silence that had overshadowed the room. Everyone looked and waited to see what it had been, only to be caught in a fit of giggles as their digimon came bounding into the room. There was a joyful reunion for all of the digidestined while Akira sat back and watched. T.K. lost his unhappy disposition and it was replaced with his child-like cheer.

"Ehem!" Someone had cleared their throat in order to demand attention. Digimon and human alike looked toward the sound to see a young looking Gennai and next to him, a very depressed Gabumon. Tai looked at Agumon with a questioning look and Agumon shook his head.

"No, he's not ok," he said. In the silence of the room, everyone heard the orange dinosaur's comment. "That's why we're here."

This seemed bring the other digimon a depressed look, each looking at their friend. Now that it was silent, everyone could hear the fur-cloaked lizard whimpering slightly. The attention was taken off the suffering creature when another digimon entered the room.

It was a very graceful creature resembling a Renamon with black and silver fur instead of the yellow and white. Its arms were slim and its forearms were protected by thin silver armguards, a large Celtic cross engraved into each of their surfaces. The legs and haunches were smaller in width than that of a Renamon and its lower legs were protected by similar guards of those on its arms. Its body had more of masculine look, his mane much messier than a Renamon's. There were no markings on its body, but the feather-like projections from its shoulders were a dark red as was the tip of its tail. Its ears were positioned at a downward slant and its red eyes lacked the luster of the other digimon. It was obvious this creature was built for agility and stealth, but one could not help but feel there was incredible power there as well.

"Who are you?" asked Davis, pointing at the digimon. This seemed to irritate the digimon as its eyes squinted with annoyance. The new digimon didn't say anything; only stare at the boy who had pointed.

"This is Erebmon, the only digimon of its kind," said Gennai with a smile. "A digimon like this hasn't hatched in over three thousand digi-years."

The digidestined were amazed by the graceful creature, its movements were like water and its fur shone like quicksilver. Cody was the first to think of the obvious question to ask Gennai. "Gennai, have you seen Matt in the digital world?"

The others soon realized how much help Gennai could potentially give them and snapped to attention. Gennai's eyes seemed to conflict at whether to harden or soften at the sound of his least favorite digidestine's name. "No, but I have recently heard that a digimon saw him in the digital world about a month ago." He seemed to fixate on the thought. The digidestined were happy to finally know where their friend truly was but, in a sad voice, he continued. "My colleagues and I knew about the deal he made with Phorcysmon. We had found a prophecy (how did that get in here :) ) a few days before T.K. was taken. 'For Hope and Light to survive, friendships must be sacrificed.' We thought it was so obvious. One of you was going to be forced to break your friendship with everyone around you in order to save T.K. and Kari, since she was who he was really after."

"Why didn't you tell us?" asked Mimi. "Matt wouldn't have had to suffer so much."

"He couldn't," said Tai, drawing the attention to him. "If they had told us, we wouldn't have all truly lost his friendship that Saturday and the curse wouldn't have been broken. They did it so that T.K. could survive." Gennai smiled and nodded his head.

"See," said T.K., tears flowing from his eyes in regret of the things he had believed of his older brother for the last month, "I told you Matt didn't mean it. I told you."

"Unfortunately, the prophecy was written in a very ancient language and one of our members translated it wrong," said Gennai. Gabumon was pulling at the back Gennai's shirt and Gennai nodded his head. "By the time we figured out what it really said it was too late. The deal was not what we thought. It didn't say _friendships_, it said _Friendship._"

"What are you saying?" asked Davis. "What was the deal?"

"It was too late to stop it. It had already happened. T.K.'s life was at stake."

"WHAT WAS THE DEAL?!" yelled T.K.

He felt a pair of strong arms wrap around his legs. He looked down to see Gabumon hugging him and tears running from his eyes. He pulled an old, worn navy blue leather journal from under his fur coat and handed it to T.K. It had a long leather string wrapped around it to keep it closed and there was an intricate border pressed around the cover. T.K. just stared at the book as Gabumon whispered, "A life for a life." The girls started to cry, as did some of the boys, whereas the rest remained in shock at the words.

T.K. stared at the yellow and white digimon as tears welled in his eyes. "NO!" yelled T.K. swinging his arm and knocking his gift from his brother on the floor. There was a dull clank and T.K. turned his attention to it.

"Mr. Ishida, Ms. Takaishi," started Gennai, "Your son died one month ago. He gave his life to Phorcysmon to save T.K. and Kari. Though the crest of Friendship is strong, Hope and Light are the most powerful of all the crests. He is a hero in the eyes of the entire digital world; you should be very proud of him." For the first time in years, Gennai seemed sad for Matt.

Suddenly, a loud cry was heard from T.K. as he fell to the floor, throwing his gift down as hard as he could. Tears flowed like fountains and his empty fist beat the floor, the other held the journal. He had finally come to believe that Matt was dead due to the contents of the box. Gabumon went to the boy and held him, crying by his side. The gift he had opened lay with its contents spilled onto the floor. "Matt!!!" cried T.K., his mother and Kari now beside him as well. "We were wrong and now it's too late to save him!!!"

It hurt the ones around him to watch him suffer and to know that he was right. Hiro whipped out a cigarette and lit it, puffing quickly and eyes tearing. Sora picked up the contents of the box, making them visible to all the people in the room. In her hands she held a new hat, a CD labeled 'T.K.'s Lullaby', a letter, and Matt's harmonica, he never went anywhere without it.

T.K. continued to cry in the arms of his loved ones as his heart finally broke into millions of pieces. He couldn't believe that just ten minutes ago, he knew they could find and save his brother, but now Matt was dead. He looked at the journal he held in his hand.

_"…do you really promise to always be by my side?"_

_"__'Til the day I die little bro."_

* * *

PLEASE READ!!!

To all those fans ready to kill me, it isn't over until the fat lady sings, and I gagged her to make sure. Just because he's gone doesn't mean it's over. I am a firm believer in everything happening for a reason. As once said by…eh, you'll just have to see in the next chapter. Matt's part isn't done yet. A new adventure begins and T.K. is out for revenge!!! Tell me how I did on this chapter. I really want to know. I wanted to try and pull emotions from my readers.


	11. No Endings, Just Beginnings

PLEASE READ!!!!!!

Ok, so for all of you that are angry with me about the last chapter, I am begging you to please continue with the story. I have said this a lot lately, but _**Matt's part is not over yet, he is still a main character**_. I don't want to give anything away but, as I have said to my favorite reader (you know who you are), this _is_ the digital world, weird stuff happens here. So please continue to read, review, and write to me. I love to hear from you all!!

I don't own digimon and the warnings are the same as in every other chapter.

* * *

"No, the journey doesn't end here. Death is just another path... One that we all must take." 

**Gandalf the White**

* * *

"Why did he die for me?!" cried T.K. "I told him he didn't need to protect me!" 

Gennai knelt down next to the suffering boy and placed his hand on his shoulder. "I know how you feel T.K."

T.K. sat up and looked at the man in front of him, anger filled his eyes. "No, you don't! You can't possibly know how I feel." He wiped away his tears and sat leaning against the wall, pulling his knees to his chest; the journal still held tightly in his hand. He didn't want anyone near him anymore. How could someone who evidently hated Matt so much feel how he did right now?

"T.K.," said Gennai, "you should be proud of your brother. Although it feels like it now, he didn't abandon you. He made the deal so that you could live on and be with the ones you love."

"Except him," he said dryly. "I don't know why he felt he needed to protect me anyway."

"He's your big brother, T.K.," said Tai. "That's what we do, for our siblings and for each other's."

* * *

"_Matt, if anything ever happens to me, promise you'll take care of Kari," said Tai._

"_Only if you'll do the same for me with T.K." he responded._

"_Deal," said Tai, outstretching his hand to seal the deal. Matt put his hand in Tai's, and it was final. They would be stand in brothers._

* * *

"Wait, I'm confused," said Davis, "and don't anybody make a comment about that! If you translated the prophesy wrong, then how did you figure out what really happened to Matt? And that digimon keeps staring at me. He's creeping me out!" 

Gennai looked at T.K. and made eye contact. The young boy had lost the glimmer that once intrigued him so much, but he knew that T.K. had to find the light again in order to defeat the monster that had escaped into their world. "A little digimon named Pemphredomon wanted me to tell her friend so he wouldn't come looking for his brother. The little one couldn't stop crying."

"Pemphredomon?" said T.K., pulling from his daydream state.

"Wait, isn't she one of the bad guys?" asked Yolei.

"Yes and no," said Gennai, his eyes still on the young blonde. "She is the one who told me Phorcysmon's plan."

"What is it?" asked Tai

"He planed to enter your world to find Kari since she will not come to him."

The room sat silent for a while, but then Izzy brought up a point. "But wait; only humans and chosen digimon can pass through the portal. I wrote the program to filter it. No non-chosen digimon can pass the border into our world without a human," he said to Gennai.

"You're almost right, which is why Phorcysmon played his cards the way that he did," Gennai's gaze became grave. "Phorcysmon discovered that humans also get deleted in the digital world when they die through the happenings with MaloMyotismon and Oikawa and used that in his sick plot. He threatened everything Matt held dear before he said he would trade it all for Matt's life. Matt was instructed go back to the digital world in one week to be sacrificed."

"I'm not following," said Yolei.

"When Matt was deleted, Phorcysmon absorbed the strand of data that signified that Matt was human. Phorcysmon used it is bringing his army to your world, he and his daughters are already here. You need to find a way to defeat him."

This made T.K.'s blood boil with rage. How could he do that? He took his brother's data! Gennai noticed T.K. fury. _They really are brothers, there's no doubt in that._ "Ok, so we just need to delete this bastard, right?" asked T.K.

"It won't be that simple," said Gennai. At the sight of the children's confusion in their faces, he continued. "Matt's human data also contains his memories and physical form. Therefore, he can use Matt as a weapon against you. Everything Matt knew, he knows now, like what all of your weaknesses are. He can also bring forward Matt's physical form at any time and use it against you in any way he's sees fit. Just know the form you see is not Matt, just an animated empty shell."

"Like a zombie!" said Gomamon.

"Way to ruin the moment, Gomamon," said Joe, rubbing the digimon's head.

"So what do we have to do?" asked Kari.

"You must unite again and take out Phorcysmon with the power of the crests before he controls both worlds."

"Duh, that's always what we have to do," said Mimi rolling her eyes.

"But we can't," said T.K., his voice distant. "Matt isn't here. We don't have the crest of Friendship."

"Umm, hello, T.H., I'm a Bearer of Friendship too you know," said Davis. "And that digimon is _really_ creeping me out. What is with that thing?"

"Calm down, Davis," said Gennai. "Before Matt died he was able to do one last thing to thwart Phorcysmon's plan. Months ago, Matt asked me how the crests worked and I told him they are maintained by the strength of your twelve spirits. Then he asked me what happened when you died then, and I explained that you are allowed to chose who inherits the crest and all its responsibilities. Matt chose a successor for the crest of Friendship."

"What about Gabumon?" asked T.K., he had become very quiet at how easily Gennai was talking about his brother's death.

"Unfortunately, he is Matt's chosen digimon and attached to the digivice that responds to Matt's essence. This means he can no longer digivolve."

"So since Phorcysmon has Matt's essence…" said Kari.

"That he does not have," said Gennai. "A person's essence is located in the same data strand as their heart and soul and he did not take that. I'm glad to say Gabumon will not be a threat to us, but he will also be no help."

Gabumon turned angrily to Gennai. "I may not be able to digivolve, but I will be able to help." He turned to T.K. and smiled a weak smile. "The first time you all came to the digital world, I promised Matt that if anything happened to him, I would take care of you and protect you and I will keep that promise." His eyes were soft at the memory of his friend and looked proud that he was Matt's digimon. Gabumon found the digivice that was left by Matt and he handed it to T.K.

"Yes…well, as I was saying, Matt passed down the rights to the crest. Since there is a new digidestined of friendship, there is a new digimon of friendship as well. We have discovered that he passed it on to one of you."

There was a long pause as the digidestined looked at one another. He had passed it down to one of them? "Who?" asked Davis.

Gennai looked at the strange digimon as an indication that he was leaving the answer to Erebmon. 'Can everyone hear me?" asked the digimon. His voice was dark and sultry, but stern and powerful. Oddly enough, no emotion was revealed through his voice.

Everyone just sat there and stared at the digimon who narrowed his eyes in annoyance again. 'Out loud, please.'

"Yes," said Sora just as annoyed. She then noticed that her response drew everyone's attention to her. The black digimon seemed to lose the annoyed glare and it was replaced by an emotionless mask. He turned to Gennai and pointed at Sora.

"Congratulations, Sora," said Gennai, his face covered in a wide smile. "You are the new digidestined of Friendship."

"Huh? How do you know?" she asked.

"You can hear Erebmon. The only person who could ever hear this digimon was someone extremely close to it in its destiny. Since you share his destiny, you can hear him." Gennai looked very confident in his answer, but many of the digidestined still looked confused. "To make it plain, because he is Sora's digimon, she can hear him, the rest of you can't."

There were nods of understanding and Tai moved forward, extending his hand to his new companion. The digimon tensed and stepped gracefully back into a defensive position at the leader's approach causing the digidestined to stop. The digimon looked him over as if to size him up or see if he was a threat.

Suddenly, Sora felt pressure in her head and a memory flashed through her mind.

_A young__ Matt and Tai were standing in a cabin unpacking their things from their backpacks. Tai stood up and walked over to the blonde boy who turned around at the sound of footsteps. Tai extended his hand. "Hi, my name is Taichi Kamiya, but everyone just calls me Tai."_

_The blonde just stared for a moment before taking the brunette's hand. "Yamato Ishida. Matt for short."_

_Tai smiled and shook Matt's hand feverishly._ Then, the memory slipped away.

_That was weird_, thought Sora, feeling a slight ache in her head. In front of her, Erebmon relaxed his body and slipped his paw-like hand into Tai's, slightly shaking it. "Welcome to the team," said Tai smiling. Erebmon nodded.

"Sora, are you alright?" asked Kari. Sora was holding her head in her hands, a headache pulling at her. She felt sort of dizzy, like the time Matt picked her up in the park and swung her around before falling into a pile of leaves and kissing her. It was hard to think about him again knowing he would never come back and her eyes began to tear again. _No, I have to be strong. T.K. doesn't need to see me like this when he is trying to hold it together._

"Just a headache."

"That will happen for a while," said Gennai. "Your mind is now connected with Erebmon and he can access your memories and thoughts as you can with him. He will teach you how to communicate with him, but that will take some time."

"Speaking of time," said Cody, "it's really late and my parents might get angry if I'm not home for dinner."

Tai looked at him watch, 8:00 p.m. "Too late, dinner was two hours ago. I'll call them for you and explain if you want."

Cody just shook his head. "I think they'll understand given the circumstances."

"So, since everyone is here, hasn't eaten and is totally bummed, why don't we go out and celebrate the new addition to the team," said Davis (sorry to all the Davis fans, I needed a reason for something to happen and I picked the airhead).

Everyone's eyes shot up just in time to see a fist connect with the face of the goggled boy, throwing him backward into the wall. Tai jumped forward and grabbed the blonde attacker before he was able to make another shot. "You dumbass!" yelled T.K. "There is nothing to celebrate! Matt is dead, you jerk!" He was pulling against Tai's grip and Tai could feel him breaking loose.

Ken must have noticed because he went in front of T.K. and held his shoulders. "T.K., I'm sorry that Davis said that, he wasn't thinking. Of course we can't celebrate, but we could go out and do something in Matt's memory. T.K., you just need to settle down. You've had too much stress placed on you today."

T.K. relaxed, Ken was right. He knew Davis didn't mean to upset him, but he needed to think before he spoke. That mouth as going to get him in trouble one day. Tai let T.K. go and Davis stood up from where he had fallen on the floor with Veemon's help. "Jeez T.L., I just thought we should go out and have some fun. Everyone is so bummed out. I thought we should try to cheer ourselves up, forget about being sad."

T.K. threw the journal at Davis, who ducked just in time causing the book to hit the wall with a loud thud. "You want to just forget! We can't forget, otherwise we'll forget Matt, don't you get it? Think before you talk Davis!!" Before anyone could stop him, T.K. was out the door and bounding down the stairs of the apartment and down into the street, Patamon flying behind him.

"T.K.! Come back!" yelled Kari as she followed him out the door, Tai, Agumon and Gatomon on her heels.

No one else followed them. The pause seemed as large as the hoe Sora felt in her heart without Matt. She got up and walked over to where Davis and Ken were still standing in shock. She kneeled down and picked up the journal, slipping it into her bag.

"I should probably go and find my son," said Natsuko as she stood from where she had been sitting next to Hiro. Her voice was soft, as though she was trying to hide from reality. Hiro stood and gave her a hug before she went to the door.

"Don't worry, Natsuko," he said to her before she exited, "we'll get through this." She nodded and left.

"We should probably go too," said Akira. "We have school in the morning."

"Are you sure that you will be alright alone tonight Mr. Ishida?" asked Tentomon.

"I'll be just fine kids. I just need a little time. Besides, Gabumon insisted he stay here tonight. He said he didn't want me to be alone." Joe had always known that Hiro didn't like to show his emotions, so the onslaught of tears that caught the man as they left assured him that he had loved Matt very much. It would be months if not years before Hiro would go back to normal.

* * *

"T.K.!" yelled Kari as she chased after the fuming young man. "T.K., please wait." 

He stopped and allowed her to catch up before resuming his walk, to where he had no idea. His feet were going somewhere and he was just going to let them carry him along. He didn't want to be near anyone but Patamon right now. He needed to get his thoughts in order.

"I'm sorry about what Davis said T.K., but you know as well as I do he doesn't think before he talks. He didn't mean to hurt your feelings." She sounded so desperate for him to understand.

"I know, it's just…I don't…I didn't mean…" His eyes were tearing as the small pig-like digimon landed on his shoulder and rubbed his cheek on T.K.'s to console him.

"You don't know what to do and you didn't mean to hit Davis, but his words made you angry that you also didn't think about what you were doing?" He nodded, but did not look at her. She had gotten good at knowing what T.K. wanted to say, even when he didn't.

They found themselves in the park about a block away from Matt's apartment. T.K. remembered visiting when he was really little and Matt taking him to this park to play. They were always knights saving princesses or pirates looking for treasure. One time Matt had protected T.K. from some larger boy who wanted T.K.'s cookies. Matt had gotten a black eye, but he said it didn't hurt. His dad was angry that Matt had been fighting, but praised him when Matt told him why. They were never allowed to go to that park again without their father until Matt was in middle school, but then knights and pirates weren't as cool as they used to be.

Kari knew that T.K. was lost in his memories and just stood by him, keeping him warm in the frigid fall air. "Promise me you'll never leave me like that," said T.K., his voice becoming strained. "Promise me I will be able to wake up everyday and be able to talk to you. Promise me you'll always be there." His hands were shaking from being curled into tight fists and he bit his bottom lip. He didn't want to cry anymore, Matt wouldn't want him to.

"I promise," she said. She wrapped her arms around him and allowed him to remember how things used to be, not even being able to imagine life without Tai. She could almost see him chasing after her in the night to keep her safe. Then she realized she hadn't been imagining it, Tai was actually chasing after them, looking irate, with Agumon and Gatomon by his side.

"What do you two think you're doing?!" he yelled. "There is an army of digimon in our world looking for you two and you go off on your own after what Matt did to protect you?! Nice!!" He was obviously getting angrier as the conversation continued. When Tai got protective, he tended to say mean things.

Kari and T.K. looked at the ground, they hadn't thought of that. "Your mom will be looking for you, T.K. Do you have a cell phone to call her?"

"Yeah," said T.K. as he reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell. "Tai, I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking. I just needed to get out of there."

Tai's face softened a little. "It's alright. Just don't do it again, ok? Matt would never forgive me if I let anything happen to you."

The six waited in the park while T.K. called his mother and she came to pick him up. T.K. and Patamon climbed into the car and said goodbye as Tai and Kari headed home with their digimon. The drive back was filled with an uncomfortable silence until Natsuko pulled into her parking space. She put the car in park but left the engine running. "Do you want to talk about it?" she asked.

"Not right now, Mom."

"Ok, but please don't hold it in too long, sweetie. It will tear you apart. When you're ready to talk, I'll be there, alright? You don't need to do this alone." She gave him a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

"I know. I just wish Matt would have known that, too."

"I know, sweetie," she said as she brushed a strand of hair out of his eyes, "but we can't change the past, only make decisions for the future."

T.K. let out a small laugh. "Matt told me that once."

Natsuko smiled. "Me too." Then she turned off the car and the two walked back to their apartment with Patamon riding on the digidestine's head.

* * *

Sora, along with Yokomon, walked into her apartment at 9:15 where she fell apart in her mother's arms. She told her what happened and her mother consoled her. Sora told her mother about her new digimon and confessed she was very confused. The minute she had left Matt's apartment, Erebmon seemed to have disappeared. After a bowl of ice cream, Toshiko sent Sora to bed. "You don't have to go to school tomorrow if you don't want to," she said. 

"I know," said Sora as she entered her room, "but I think I should go. Otherwise I would just sit here and feel sorry for myself. I think I should be with Tai and the others right now."

"Alright, but come home if you need to." She was very worried about her little girl.

"I will. Goodnight."

"Goodnight, darling."

Sora closed her door and placed Yokomon down on her bed before changing. She sat down beside her digital friend and pulled the leather notebook out of her bag. _I shouldn't read this, it's Matt's._

'Then don't,' came Erebmon's deep voice causing Sora to nearly fall off her perch.

"What?!" she said.

"I didn't say anything," said Yokomon looking at her digidestined confused. "Did you see a spider or something? You jumped pretty high."

"Oh! No, I'm ok, Yokomon. Erebmon did the whole 'speaking-in-my-mind' thing again and it startled me. This could take some getting used to. Where do you suppose he is?"

"Well, why don't you call him?" It was Sora's turn to give Yokomon the confused look. "You know, call him. Say his name."

"Erebmon?" said Sora taking her digimon's advice.

There was a sudden rush of air and the sound of something whizzing by her ear as Erebmon seemingly materialized in her bedroom (you know, the thing Renamon can do). 'Yes, Sora?'

"Where did you go?" she asked. This digimon didn't seem to be a very good guardian.

'I was watching you as you walked home from the roofs of the buildings. I can't be carried like Yokomon can, so I need to stay out of sight.'

"Oh, right."

'You know, if you think it, I can hear it. People might start thinking you are talking to yourself if you don't talk to me in your mind. Last thing we want is a digidestined thrown in the insane asylum.'

"No, I won't leave Yokomon out of my conversations with you." Sora was beginning to get a little angry with this digimon. It didn't seem to care how others felt or who was left out. Yokomon was her digimon first and no black fox was going to change that connection.

The black digimon narrowed its eyes in frustration. 'She _can_ hear me. She is part of my destiny as well because she is connected to you directly.'

"But Gennai said…"

'Gennai doesn't know everything, contrary to popular belief,' said the digimon, his sultry voice hardening when he spoke of Gennai. 'Like he said, a digimon like me hasn't hatched in three thousand years, long before Gennai was around. I am a bit more advanced than my predecessors. Unfortunately, Yokomon will not have the same connection we will.'

"What do you mean?" asked Yokomon. For the first time that night, she thought it was a good idea to speak. The notion that this digimon would have a special connection with Sora that she did not have made her feel uneasy.

'Sora will always be connected to me, no matter how far away. I will always be able to speak with her and, if she allows me, to see her memories. You will only be able to hear her if I am within talking distance to you. You two are connected mentally through me.' Erebmon was looking as if he was becoming very tired. His regal posture was starting to droop a little and his tail was no longer moving, but lying on the floor.

Sora decided to try this newfound ability to speak with both of her digimon. _Does it work?_ Yokomon looked at her and nodded her head. _So what you were doing earlier, when Tai wanted to shake your hand, were you digging in my memories?_ Sora remembered it making her head hurt and made her world spin. She didn't really like that feeling.

'Yes, at least, I think so. I didn't really notice you in the memory, but it must have been a first person memory.'

_Will it always feel like that?_thought Sora. Yokomon looked at her digidestined with concern. _I felt dizzy and my head hurt afterward._

'No, it will not always be like that. It will just take a little time for your body to get used to having another being in your mind.'

"Sora, I'm tired," said Yokomon, her eyes drooping.

"Ok, we should all go to bed," said Sora, picking up her tiny digimon and cradling it in her arms. "I can make a bed for you."

'No, I will be fine,' said Erebmon. 'I don't sleep as often as you or the other digimon. I will just lean against the wall.' He sat down and leaned back, allowing his red eyes to close and body to relax.

Sora slid under her covers and turned off the light. She snuggled in and held Yokomon close, realizing how much she missed having the warm digital friend near her. 'Thank you, Sora.' It was Erebmon, but this time his voice was softer and emotion of happiness and love shone through.

_For what?_

'For allowing me to stay and for answering a question that has long been bothering me.'

_Well, we do have to work on your manners, but you're my digimon and my friend. Can I ask what the question was?_

'Ever since I hatched, I have had dreams about that blonde haired boy that's in your memories, but I never knew who he was. At first I thought he was to be my digidestined, but mine is the most beautiful digidestined there is (don't worry; there is no digimon-human pairings here). Anyway, I now know who he is, and why he is important. I would like to know more about him, if you would let me.'

Sora could hear it in his voice that he didn't want to make her share her memories, nor did he want to hurt her again by prying into her mind. _Maybe, but not tonight. I have school tomorrow. _

He laughed a quiet, deep laugh. 'Fair enough, I don't want to invade your privacy. How about we just read the journal first? Then, we can both learn about him together.'

_Okay_, she thought sleepily before letting her eyelids fall. Erebmon could hear her breath start to come slower and sensed her body relax. He made sure she was asleep before allowing himself the same pleasure.

* * *

The night sky lacked the light of the moon and stars causing an eerie blackness to fall on the flattened grass. The only light was from the torches that surrounded the grotesque digimon that had assembled there. Hair raising and ear splitting cries of delight and hatred filled the darkened air as she approached. 

Sora continued walking toward the congregation though she mentally demanded her feet to stop. She could make out some of the yells. "Die digidestined scum!!" "Human trash!" "You're a traitor to all digimon! Even your Gennai wants you dead for your treachery!" She didn't know what the last voice was talking about, but she could feel her heartbeat increasing with every hated word. But she could also feel her heart beating normally. Wait! That wasn't her heart!!

A tall, pale digimon separated the crowd and stood about thirty feet in front of her, dressed in long, black robes with red where it touched the floor. He brandished a long, white sword with a black hilt, bejeweled in ruby and sapphire. "Welcome, Yamato. I wasn't sure you would really come." His voice was wicked and blood lust could be heard drenching every word.

"What?!" yelled Sora, but no one took notice. She felt her body want to move forward, but she firmly planted her feet and a cold sensation filled her body as she remained planted while Matt's body continued forward. He looked tired. His unnaturally red eyes didn't shine like they had done before and his hair was a mess, something he never let happen. He wore a deep red shirt with a barely visible blood stain on the stomach with black pants.

He walked toward the demon and Sora's heart gave a start. She ran in front of Matt to stop his advance. "Matt, we'll find another way! You can't do this. I love you." She knew it was true, but it still sort of surprised her when she let those sweet words cross her lips.

But Matt didn't even notice. He continued to walk until he was directly in front of her, and then, to her surprise, he walked through her like she was a ghost. She turned to see Matt about ten feet from the demon lord, but something caused her to turn back again. She turned to look into a blue ocean that had long escaped her. Matt stood before her the way she used to know him; eyes shining, hair made, and dressed in a clean, white muscle shirt and white cargo pants.

She could hear Phorcysmon talking behind her to the other Matt, but she couldn't take her eyes off the one in front of her now; the man she loved, not the man she lost. He placed his hand on her chin and pulled her face to his, giving her a soft, gentle kiss filled with love. She could feel his warmth, but not his touch, and this brought tears to her eyes.

She looked into his eyes when he finished, his hand still on her chin, and his love for her shone through. "Matt…I…" she stammered.

"Shh," he hushed her quietly, placing his hand on her arm, the warmth moving with it. "I know Sora. I know." He pulled her into a loving embrace, placing his cheek on hers. "Sora, I need you to wake up."

"No," she cried quietly, "I want to stay here with you."

He pulled back a little and looked her in the face; he looked so happy and peaceful to her. "Stubborn as always, that is why we were meant for each other, we were both stubborn. I wish I would have told you how beautiful you were that last night. There were a lot of things I should have told you. Maybe one day I can, but right now, Sora, you have to wake up." His voice was soft, but sternness also shone through with those last words.

Sora heard a sword being sheathed behind her. She had almost forgotten where they were. "No, I won't leave you again!" she was surprised to hear she was screaming.

There was a sound of something cracking accompanied by a pained grunt behind her. Sora started to turn around, but a hand gently grabbed her chin and forced her to look back at the Matt clad in white. "I'm sorry, Sora, but I don't want you to see this." There was a sound of flesh on flesh behind her. He leaned in again and whispered in her ear. "I love you, Sora…now wake up." A weird sensation of being thrown into a tub of ice water encased her body. Matt faded from view and darkness surrounded her.

She awoke with a start, covered in a cold sweat. Her breath came in quick gasps and her body felt numb, but she could still feel Matt's warmth. 'Sora, are you alright?' Erebmon sounded concerned.

Sora looked into the pale light of early morning to see two shining, red eyes staring at her from her window where her new digimon sat. She wiped some of the sweat from her forehead. _Yeah, I'm ok_.

"We were worried about you, Sora," said Yokomon; she hated the idea of speaking in her mind to her digidestined. "You were mumbling in your sleep and crying. Are you sure you're alright?"

"Yes, Yokomon," she said giving her digimon a long hug, "I'm ok. It was just a nightmare…"

'…about that boy,' finished Erebmon. It obviously was not a guess.

"I thought you wouldn't invade my privacy!" she said, her voice a little louder than she had intended. "You lied!"

His eyes narrowed at being called a liar. 'I did not lie to you. There are laws of being an Erebmon that even I can not get around. My species is designed to defend our Faen from every digimon imaginable. So, when you and I are both asleep, our minds become one and we dream the same dreams in case you are awoken or attacked in your sleep.' He had become very defensive, his rigidness reappearing. 'I forced myself to wake when he appeared.' Erebmon's voice became a little softer. 'I had this feeling that he would take care of you and from your reaction to him, I thought it best to give you your _privacy_.'

Sora felt guilty for lashing out at her new friend, especially when he emphasized the last word. "I'm sorry, Erebmon. It's just…"

'No need to explain,' he said. 'Most worry about losing secrets when these sorts of connections happen. Don't worry, I have blocked my mind so I only see or hear what you want me to. I will teach you to block these things for yourself, but that can wait until tomorrow.'

"It is still early, Sora. You should try to go back to sleep," said Yokomon in a groggy voice and soon, she was back to sleep.

Sora looked at the clock, it was 4:26. "I don't think I can sleep anymore." The dream had been too real. She wanted so badly to see Matt again, but he had told her he didn't want her to see whatever was happening. The sounds had scared her. "Are you going back to sleep?"

'No, I have slept enough. Like I said, my kind sleeps very little compared to other digimon, maybe once every two to three days for a few hours. My job is to protect my Faen.'

"You keep…" but she stopped when Yokomon stirred. _You keep calling me your Faen, what is that?_

'It is from an ancient language and means 'life'. To an Erebmon, their Faen is the one person who can hear us, the one person that brings us from a lonely solitude. They are the one who makes our life worth living. Without our Faen, we are totally alone. That is what ereb means, 'alone'.'

_That is so sad._

''Tis the curse that comes with the power. But enough sulking.' There was a long silence before Sora had an idea.

_Would you like to read some of the journal?_

She looked at him, his eyes shone differently, almost as if he were smiling. 'I would like that very much.'

Sora carefully reached over Yokomon and grabbed the soft leather cover of the journal. The untied the string and unwound it so she could open it. She flipped through the flimsy pages, there were very few pages written on in comparison to how many blank pages there were. She opened up to the first entry and looked at the date. Eight years ago. _Erebmon, I'm not sure we should read this one. This is close to when his parents got divorced. He never talked about it._

'Even more reason to do it,' he said calmly. 'Matt should be remembered for everything he did, everything he was. Maybe he wanted someone to know, someone to care, but was worried that he would be treated differently.'

_I don't know…_

'If it was such a secret, why would he _write_ it, especially in a journal without a lock? Mr. Ishida said he left it on his bedside table, where anyone could get to it.'

He had a point. _Will you hear it if I read it or do I need to read it aloud?_

'Just reading it will allow me to share it with you.'

She liked the idea of sharing this with someone, especially someone who cares about the subject as much as Erebmon. It seemed as though Matt also had a connection with this digimon, but it wasn't surprising since he was a digimon of Friendship. Matt was as much a part of Erebmon as Matt was a part of Sora. She began to read.

* * *

_August 14, 1998_

_Mom and Dad got into a really big fight tonight. There was lots of yelling and something was broken. I think it was a plate they had saved from their wedding that Mom always held after a fight with Dad. The crash woke up T.K., something that I never wanted to happen to him. He was a good kid. He didn't need to see this part of the world. I had to protect him, to be his guardian. I had to climb up into his bed. He was crying so hard. I had to hug him and sing him a song so he couldn't hear Mom and Dad anymore before he would fall back to sleep. I decided to stay up there in case he woke up again, but I was scared, too. Their fights never got this bad. _

_I knew it would happen one day, but I thought T.K. would be older by then. I thought we would have more time to be brothers until I heard the fight change to me and T.K. They were fighting about which one of them got __us. Apparently this thing called 'joint custody' is a bad thing because they would have to see each other. They finally decided that they would each take one of us, but that started a whole new argument._

_Mom was screaming that Dad had to have me because she couldn't control me. I don't think I'm such a bad kid. I had noticed how I had always come up in every fight they ever had. Maybe if they didn't have me, they wouldn't fight so much. _

_Unlike them, I knew what was best for T.K.__, he needed a mother still. So I got out of bed and went to the living room. I told them I would be going with Dad. They must have realized that T.K. and I could hear them after that because they didn't fight for the rest of the night after I went back to bed._

_T.K. asked if they were done when I climbed back to the top bunk with him. I said they were and held him. He said he loved me and fell asleep. He didn't see me cry, but I promised myself I would never cry again after that night. I snuggled close to T.K. because I knew this would be the last night I could do it. _

_The next morning, Dad and I left without telling T.K. why, but I gave him a final goodbye before Dad drug me out the door._

Near the bottom, in cleaner handwriting was one last sentence separated from the rest.

_I never told him. 10/28/06_

* * *

Sora closed the journal; she couldn't read another entry like that right now. She just realized how little she knew about Matt's childhood. He had told them about his parents getting divorced, but not that he had to act like an adult at such a young age. 

'He was a guardian, but his Faen was torn from him. Was he a cold person?' asked Erebmon. His voice seemed sad, but still emotionless at the same time.

_No, he was a very kind person and, as you know, he was very protective of T.K., even in the digital world. He would have done anything to protect us, even…_ she choked on the words.

'…die for you?' he finished. Sora nodded, tears forming in her eyes. 'I think we should stop for now. Try to get some sleep. I'll stay awake this time.'

Sora laid her head back on her pillow and pulled Yokomon close. She fell back into a dreamless sleep, tears still running down her face.

* * *

"Sora, are you sure you want to go to school today?" Toshi asked. 

"Yeah, I need to be with the others." She said flipping on the TV. It was ritual for Sora and her mother to watch the news in the morning while they ate breakfast. The theme music for the morning news flowed through the room as the two ate homemade waffles.

"Good morning and welcome to the morning news," began the dark haired news woman whose shirt was obviously too small in the needed region. _Television_, thought Sora. "Our top story…The city of Odiaba mourns the loss of Teenage Wolves singer Yamato Ishida…"

"What?!" yelled Sora. How had they figured out so soon?

"Late last night, news of the teen idol's death was given to his family and close friends. Apparently, he was killed protecting the other digidestined from a dark digimon. I have a feeling the happenings of four years ago may be headed our way again. Our condolences go out to his friends, family and especially, the digidestined. More on that story as details become available. In other news…"

Sora just sat there with her fork hanging in her mouth. Did that just happen, who had told? "Mom, I have to go."

"Alright," she said tentatively, "Call me if you need me." And with that, Sora grabbed her things and took off for school.

On the way, she stopped by Tai's house. When he answered the door she yelled, "Did you see? Matt's death was on the news!"

"Are you surprised?" asked Tai. "His dad works at the TV station and he probably didn't want to go to work today. I don't blame him, but they probably wanted a reason. Of course it would be on the news, this is big."

Sora was a little ashamed of herself for not thinking of that. "Do you think it's true? Do you think it's going to be Myotismon all over again?"

"No," said Tai sternly, "I think it is going to be worse. This time he is willing to kill and manipulate. Plus we don't have Matt and I have a feeling T.K. is going to be irate when we meet Phorcysmon. _This_ fight is going to be way uglier than last time."

* * *

I did want to get the first battle into this chapter, but I think I will wait until the next. This was more for explanation and to rekindle some hope for the Sorato lovers like myself. I want to know how I did on this one: ideas, tips, and suggestions, whatever you want. I love to hear from you all!! PM me too if you want. Next chapter…another twist (I hope)! 

StarShinobi


	12. Never Truly Gone

So keeping it short and sweet. I want to give hope to my readers, so read on. Hope you enjoy. Review and PM. Don't own digimon. Warnings same as always. Yay, go!

* * *

Ok, Guess I lied about the short and sweet part but this is important. I am going to show you the different types of writing I will use for conversations between Sora, Biyomon, and Erebmon. 

_Sora will always look like this since we are now seeing this from her POV._

_Biyomon will also look like this. I will write who is talking if it is a three way conversation._

'Erebmon will look like this when he is nearby.' _'He will look like this when there is a distance between him and Sora or Biyomon.'_

Hope that helps if not let me know. Now go.

* * *

"But know this, the ones who love us never really leave us. And you can always find them; in here." 

-**Sirius Black**

* * *

The cold fall wind blew through the dark abandoned building rustling the fur, feathers, and clothes of the demonic creatures there. The smell of mold and dead animal ripped at ones nose, but it did not appear to affect these beasts. A tall, pale man sat on a horned throne of iron while his eldest stood at his side, the youngest sitting at his feet. He was surrounded by grotesque digital abominations who sat silently, awaiting their master's orders. 

The demon lord unsheathed his white sword, but it was no longer the pearl it had been. The white blade was permanently stained red by the boy's blood. Phorcysmon looked at the blade and smiled, allowing a quiet, evil laugh to escape his lips. He could still feel what it felt like to run this sword through the boy, the sight of his life slipping from him. His sick heart sped in euphoria at the thought. He wanted to do it again.

Pemphredomon had been waiting in fear for her father's orders. She knew Gennai had warned the digidestined about the plan, the lady on the news had announced Friendship's, no Matt's, death. A sense of pride rushed through her when she thought of how much she had helped them, but this wasn't over. They still had to defeat her father, and that's why she couldn't tell him…

"Pemphredomon! Enyomon!" said Phorcysmon, still eyeing the sword, "I think it is about time we send our digidestined friends a gift." He waved his hand and a dark mist flew in front of him. It began to condense until the form of a young blonde boy stood before him. He was dressed in a tight, black Under Armour® shirt that showed his muscle under his long sleeves. His black cargo pants were adorned with chains. He wore a small loop in his left ear lobe and his eyes shone red as fire.

Phorcysmon let out another evil laugh. _This should be fun_…

* * *

When Tai and Sora arrived at school, they were not surprised by what met them. Students were crying in the hall and Matt's locker was decorated with flowers and notes. June sat in front of it crying her eyes out, but no one was there to comfort her. Sora attempted to, but June didn't appear to even notice Sora was there. They had arrived fairly early so Sora pulled Matt's journal from her bag. She didn't really feel like talking to anyone anymore. 

_Erebmon, if you call me your Faen, what do I call you?_

'_I am you Gisir, it means 'guardian.''_

She smiled to herself. _I think I am going to read anther entry. Wanna listen?_

'_Yes, this would be good practice for you to talk to me.'_

Sora opened the journal to the second entry. It had the same scratchy handwriting as the first but it was in blue ink.

* * *

_August 21, 1998_

_Mom had always told me that my dad didn't drink very much because he was a 'mean drunk,' but I didn't know what she meant until yesterday. Dad didn't come home at 5:30 like he had always done before so I had to make my own supper. Mac 'n Cheese is harder to make than I thought and I burnt it. It tasted really bad._

_Dad came home about 9:00, but he didn't act like my dad. He was walking really wobbly and he looked tired, almost mad. He smelt really bad, too. He was carrying something in his hand but I didn't know what it was until later. He hobbled into the kitchen and pulled the pot with the burnt noodles out of the sink. I couldn't hear what he was saying, but he was getting angrier. He walked over to me with the pot in his hand and asked me what it was. I told him I had tried to cook and it didn't work so I made a peanut butter sandwich. He yelled something about wasting food and threw the pot on the floor. I didn't want to show it, but I was getting scared._

_Then he asked if I had made him anything since he had been working all day and was very hungry. I told him I didn't and I don't think it was a good idea. He threw what he was carrying at the wall and the bottle shattered inside the brown paper bag. I looked at it and then back at him; alcohol. He started swearing and telling me that I was just like my mom. He said I was selfish. He grabbed my arm and held it tight. It hurt so badly, but I had promised I would never cry again. I had done this for T.K. and I would never regret it._

_He yelled at me some more about other things, but I blocked him out. I wasn't scared anymore, I didn't want to cry, and I didn't feel sorry for myself. I was Yamato Hogosha Ishida, because that's what I am for T.K. I am his hogosha, his protector, his guardian. Then he yelled at me to get to bed and I did without a word. He stayed up for a long time yelling but fell asleep on the couch. I couldn't sleep._

_Dad didn't wake up until noon today and he said he felt like he had been hit by a train. I was still in my pajamas and when he looked at me, I saw his face. He looked shocked and disgusted. I thought he was mad at me for not cleaning up yet. He got up and ran over to me. I didn't even flinch. I thought he was going to hit me again, but he just gently touched my arm. He had been looking at the giant bruise on my arm with disgust, not at me. He asked it he had done that, but I didn't answer. He pleaded for me to tell him, so I nodded my head, and for the first time in my life, I saw my dad cry. He said he was sorry more times than I can count and I wanted to cry with him, but I couldn't. My body wouldn't let me cry, so I told him I forgave him. Deep inside I worried he would do this to me again, but I think I'll be ok. I just went out to grab my journal out of the living room and I saw him in the kitchen throwing out all of the alcohol in our cupboards saying, "Never again." I told him I loved him before I went into my room and I heard him say, "I love you too, son, and I'm sorry." Don't worry Dad, I won't tell anyone. _

* * *

Tears filled her eyes and she closed the book. So that was his breaking point. Gabumon had told her about what had happened with Matt and what he had said in the cave of darkness and it all made sense. That was the night that he had built his walls around himself. 

"_Sora, what…'_

_Please, Erebmon, not now. I'm sorry._

'_I understand,'_ and with that, she felt the fox's mind disconnect from hers. He wanted to give her privacy to grieve. As he disappeared, the first bell rang.

It had already been decided that school would be dismissed after first period, but that first period seemed like an eternity to Sora. Everyone was asking her how she was doing and about the fight that was coming. She didn't want to answer these questions; that she was feeling horrible and was scared by what could be happening. She was a digidestined; she had to be strong for everyone.

She couldn't take it anymore. When the bell rang she ran out of the room and found Tai. "They're driving me crazy!" she said as softly as she could muster in her rage. "What am I supposed to tell them, Tai? That I'm scared? That I'm depressed? Or am I supposed to lie and say there is nothing wrong?"

"For now, we say nothing," said Tai. His voice was oddly aloof. He had been bothered by many people this morning too and was worried about lashing out for no reason. Even though Davis was now the leader of the digidestined, everyone still looked to Tai for guidance and it felt as though this fight was riding on him again, just like with Myotismon. "We need to see what we're up against here. When Myotismon came, he was weak for a while and had to rest. I'm guessing that is why Phorcysmon is waiting as well. We can't act until we know he's here. We can't give false hope, but we can't crush hope either."

Sora knew Tai was right. She turned to her locker and found a note taped to it.

_Sora,_

_We're all going out for hot chocolate. Meet us in the parking lot after school._

_Kari_

Sora looked outside, it was snowing. Matt had loved the snow even though he had almost died in it once. He said it reminded him on walking on clouds, almost like an angel, and that it proved that the world was filled with good. No dark thing could create something so clean and pure. Christmas was a little under a month away, and Matt wouldn't be there to share it with her.

She closed her locker and there was a boy waiting behind it. Her heart skipped a beat until she realized it couldn't be Matt. It was one of the basketball players, the star, Yukio Tanaka. He had always had his eye on Sora, but Matt had never let him near her. "Hey there, gorgeous," came his dark, sing-song voice.

Sora looked at him. His body was well toned and his skin was olive. His dark black hair was slicked back out of his face and his green eyes sparkled at her as he stared down from his 6'5" vantage point. Matt had warned her about him. Matt had called him 'a scum sucking, egotistical womanizer.' Apparently, he was like the village bicycle, if you know what I mean. "Hi, Yukio," Sora said, trying to sound kind yet untouchable.

"Sorry about your loss," he said, but Sora could tell that he really didn't care; he was after something. "Must be hard, losing your rock star." Now she really knew he was after something. Matt and Yukio were like day and night and they held a lot of animosity toward the other. Matt wasn't a real athletic guy, though he could throw a mean punch, and he cared about people. Yukio on the other hand was all brawn, no brains and was a complete jerk 24/7. Matt had given him a bloody nose once or twice for Sora. "Why don't you come over to my place and I can help you…_unwind_?" He had placed one hand behind Sora's neck and the other on her lower back, sending a disgusted shiver down her spine.

"I don't think so," she said and tried to walk away, but he pulled her back.

His eyes had become angry. "No _girl_ says no to me!" He pulled her face close to his and locked his lips with hers. She tried to push away, she even started to hit him, but he would not let go of her. He pulled her closer, hurting her neck where he held her. She was too short and too close to knee him in the groin. _Someone get him off me!!!_ she begged in her mind.

Then, she heard a familiar sound of something rushing by her ear and the tall pervert was pulled away from her. It took her a moment to realize what had happened. She looked over and saw Erebmon holding Yukio up in the air by the collar. A look of fear was on the boy's face, but Sora could not help but stare. "Erebmon, what are you doing? You can't attack humans!"

'Nobody hurts my Faen,' said Erebmon, his voice harsh and dark, 'not even the school bully. Digimon can attack anyone who hurts their digidestined and I think your neck can attest that I am allowed to right now.' He was very angry, but his voice still seemed very calm. His eyes were ablaze and his tail was twitching erratically.

"Let me down! Let me down!!" screamed the teen in fear. Erebmon released his grip and Yukio fell to the ground.

'Sora, tell him never to touch you again. Make sure he knows the message is from me.' His glaring eyes were still locked on the trembling macho man.

"Yukio, Erebmon wants me to tell you never to touch me again." She couldn't help but smile. Matt had told him something like that, but he must have thought he was in the clear after Matt was gone. Boy was he wrong. Matt had given her a new guardian; he was protecting her, even in death. She could still see him in his white clothes, kissing her. Sora walked in front of Erebmon and looked Yukio right in his eyes. "And Yukio, if you _ever_ use Matt to get something or _ever_ insult Matt, I will hunt you down myself."

Yukio scrambled to his feet and took of running down the hall way. The students that had seen the episode looked back at Sora with awe, gratitude, and disgust (these were only his fan girls though). He wasn't that popular for a sports star. _Thank you, Erebmon._

'You're welcome,' he said. 'Sorry I took so long; I can't teleport this far yet.' He paused and looked around. 'Shouldn't you be meeting the others?'

"Oh, no; I almost forgot!" _Why don't you head home again. I still need to practice._ She turned and ran down the hall and out to the parking lot as Erebmon disappeared again. Kari and the others were waiting for her by the door.

"What took you so long?" asked Izzy who was feverishly typing on his laptop. He looked very tired.

"Yukio was trying to get friendly with me in the hallway," she said slipping on her jacket.

Tai and the girls snapped to attention, the rest didn't really know what she was talking about. "Are you ok? Did he hurt you?" asked Yolei as she started to check over Sora.

"I'm ok, he just hurt my neck a little when he…kissed me," she tried to make the last part quiet hoping they wouldn't hear her.

"He WHAT?!" yelled Kari. "That egotistical, no good bustard. Did you fight him off?"

"No," she said, "Erebmon came to my recue."

"Well, thank goodness he was there," said Tai. "It's a really good thing I wasn't; I would have pummeled that guy for laying his hands on Matt's girl." He slammed his fist into his hand.

"But Matt's dead," said T.K. "She isn't Matt's girl anymore." His voice sounded weak, like he didn't sleep last night.

"Sora is Matt's girl until she says she isn't."

Sora felt a smile spread across her face. "Thank you, Tai," she said and gave the brunette a hug.

"Ok, let's get going," said Cody. "The snow is really starting to come down out there." The group piled into the older teens' cars and Tai led them to their destination. It was a café just off the main road, but it was really well known. Sora got out of her car and looked at the building as though she was seeing it for the first time. The neon sign said 'Main Stage' in green and purple lights. Below it was banner, which was now more decorated than it usually was, reading 'Birthplace of the Teenage Wolves!'

"I thought this would be a good place for us to meet and talk," said Tai, his eyes on the banner. "It was like a second home to Matt, so I know he will be with us in spirit." She could see his eyes beginning to tear and Sora supposed that Tai hadn't really accepted that Matt was gone. When it did come, she wanted to be there to comfort him, just as he had always done for her.

"Let's go inside, Tai," she said placing a hand on his shoulder. He nodded and the two followed the rest of the group inside and ordered their drinks.

* * *

"Is he ready, Enyomon?" asked Phorcysmon, still sitting on his iron throne. 

"We finally got his physical form stabilized," she responded, an evil grim planted on her face. "He is ready for your use, Father."

A sick smile formed on his face. "Then maybe we should give them a reunion."

* * *

"To the best friend, brother, and partner a person could ask for; to Matt," said Tai as he raised his hot chocolate into the air before taking a sip. The hot liquid warmed his throat as it traveled, but it wasn't able to rid his body of the permanent chill he had since he learned of Matt's death. Would anyone else die in this fight? This had never happened before. 

The remaining digidestined and digimon toasted to Matt in the same fashion. "He was a good man," said Gabumon, tears threatening to break again.

"That he was," said Hawkmon.

"Sora," said Cody, "where is Erebmon?"

Sora closed her eyes. _Just wondering where are you at?_

'_I am at home with your mother, just like you asked of me,' _he said._ "She is teaching me to cook. Says I am a natural.'_ She could sense a smile in her mind.

_Ok, I will call you if I need you. _

'_And I'll be there in a heartbeat.'_

She opened her eyes, she wasn't good at long distance yet, but Erebmon said that would come with time and practice. "He's at my house so I can practice talking to him when he's far away. He was tentative at first, but I said it was fine because Biyomon is with me."

"I don't think he totally trusts me," said Biyomon.

"He does, he just doesn't think anyone can protect me as well as he can," said Sora as she took another sip of her hot chocolate.

"He's just like Matt," said Joe with a smile. "He never trusted many others with protecting you either."

"But he can't protect anyone anymore." T.K. had been very quiet the entire time the group had been in the café.

Kari placed her hand on his which was still wrapped around his mug. "T.K., please don't start this again. You know Matt didn't abandon you." The atmosphere was getting tense.

"No, the jerk just got himself killed," he said quietly. "What a stupid ass."

Everyone jumped as they heard a glass shatter on the floor and looked to the side to see Sora. She was staring strait into T.K.'s eyes with enough fury that the boy visibly shrank down in his chair. "I know you're angry that Matt was killed, but don't you even think about blaming him for this. He died to protect your sorry ass and I will not sit here and let you bad mouth him when he did that, among other things, for you."

"And what do you know about other things that he's done for me?" T.K. had found his voice again.

"A lot because I've been reading his journal!"

"You've been what?!" yelled T.K. Tai wasn't sure if he should intervene or let the two duke it out. He decided on the latter, but would step in if it got physical. "Those are Matt's private thoughts. You shouldn't be reading it without his permission!"

"I think under the circumstances it's ok," Sora yelled back, taking a step toward the blonde. She looked down and dug into her bag and pulled out the journal. She knew T.K. needed to read the entries, but she couldn't make herself give up something of Matt's, so she had scanned and printed the pages on her computer. She figured T.K. had Matt's harmonica, she could have his journal. She pulled the copies out of the front cover. "Maybe you should read them and quit feeling sorry for yourself!" She closed the distance between them and pushed the papers into T.K.'s chest, hard. Tai decided to step in, pulling Sora away from the boy.

T.K. looked at the pages, both angry and surprised. Maybe he should read them. "I need some air," he said, his voice returning to the tired volume it had been before. He turned and started to go out the café door.

"T.K., you shouldn't go out alone," said Kari. Patamon flew over to his digidestined.

"She's right."

"Don't worry," said T.K., patting his digimon's head, "I'll just be right outside. I need some time alone to cool my head." Sora calmed at his words. Maybe she had gotten through to him.

"Ok, but be back soon," said Patamon. "I don't want anything to happen to you."

T.K. gave him a smile and before exiting said, "I'll be back in five minutes." As he opened the door, a slight breeze caught his jacket and Tai caught a glimpse of Matt's digivice on T.K. jeans.

There was a long pause in the room and many decided it was probably a good thing that no one else was willing to risk it in this blizzard or facing digimon and come to the café. They were all alone, except for the waitress, but she had left after getting them the drinks. She was Joe's next door neighbor so she just gave him the key and asked him to lock up when they left. He promised to bring it back tonight.

"I know it was harsh, but I think Sora actually made it through to T.K.," said Kari. "He hasn't slept very well since Matt disappeared and didn't sleep at all last night so he isn't thinking straight. I didn't tell you this, but Natsuko told me T.K. cried all night. He is taking this really hard." Tears started to pour out her eyes. "I cause T.K. so much hurt. First he's tortured because of me and then his brother dies because of me. I'm such a burden. He'd be better off without me."

Only on person in the room knew what to say, the others had no idea what to do to comfort the girl. "No, Kari," said the bat-pig digimon, "he wouldn't be better off without you." Kari stared at him, her eyes still filled with tears. "You are his entire world and there would be no way for him to make it without you, without any of you. Kari, he needs you more than ever now."

Kari gave Patamon a smile and hug. "Thank you." The digimon smiled back at her.

'_Sora, is everyone alright?'_ Erebmon was sounding worried and ready to fight in his emotionless voice. Sora had learned that she could sense his emotions by looking into his mind when they were connected. His voice was always passive, but had emotions stronger than she had ever felt before. _'I felt a surge of dark energy.'_

_Yeah, we're alright. We're just in the ca…T.K.!!_ She got up and ran to the window, the other digidestined following her with their eyes. "Oh my God! T.K.!!"

* * *

He needed some time alone, this time without Patamon. He closed the café door behind him and leaned against the outside wall. Snow drifted down in large, heave flakes which stuck to everything it touched. It wasn't windy, but it was oddly sunny and there was definitely low visibility. It hadn't snowed this much since the Christmas after their first adventure. Matt would have loved to see it. 

T.K. turned the pieces of paper in his hands, not looking at what the writing said, but at the handwriting. He recognized it immediately as Matt's. Maybe Sora was right, maybe he should read these. But then again, if Matt hadn't wanted to tell him in life, would he really want him to know about it in death? _I'm being silly, Matt told me everything except for the deal with Phorcysmon; even Tai has said it. He trusted me with everything. I have nothing to worry about._ He flipped the page so that he could read it, but the sound of foot steps pulled him from his brother's words. _Who would be crazy enough to be out here other than us?_

"You know, it's kind of cold to be sitting _outside_ the coffee shop."

T.K.'s heart stopped and he forgot everything that he had been told the past couple of days. Euphoria spread through T.K.'s body when he saw the blonde locks that he knew so well, though they were rather messy and drooped over his eyes. He found it odd that his brother was dressed in all black and hiding his eyes behind his hair but he didn't care. His brother was here, right in front of him after a whole month of absence. "Matt, you're…you're not dead? But Gennai said…" His voice was on the verge of tears and he was shaking very badly.

"Gennai doesn't know what he's talking about," said Matt with a smile. "Phorcysmon has been holding me captive and sent one of his cronies out to spread the word of my death to break apart the team. I knew you guys wouldn't be fooled by that."

T.K. couldn't stop himself. He ran at his older brother and wrapped his arms around him, crying heavily and laying his head on Matt's chest. He was back, he was really back. "I missed you so much."

"I missed you too, kid." Matt's arms wrapped around his little brother and he held him there. T.K. started to settle down fairly quickly in his brother's warm embrace until the only sound he could hear was his own heartbeat.

Then he realized it, Matt had no heartbeat.

He started to pull away, but before he could escape, Matt grabbed T.K.'s arm. T.K. turned and looked at his brother. The sight made him angry and scared. Matt had revealed his blood red eyes and the snow beneath his feet was rapidly turning black. His knuckles had split and were leaking hot, red liquid onto his T.K.'s coat. Bruises began to develop on his face and a trickle of blood streamed from his mouth.

"You're not my brother!!" yelled T.K. as he pushed the hand away with great difficulty.

"Oh, but I am, T.K.," said Matt, his voice menacing. "I may not have my soul, that part of me is long gone, but I am all that is left of your brother. The darkness gives me power and keeps me going. Come and join me, T.K. You could have all this too and be with me." Dark mist started to envelope the older teen as he outstretched his hand for T.K.

T.K. looked into Matt's eyes and for a moment almost took his brother's hand. _He's trying to put me in a trance. I need to get out. He's not my brother!!_ "NO!!!" He closed his eyes and then opened them again, this time staring at the spot his brother's heart should be. "I know Phorcysmon is controlling your body. This isn't my brother; this is a demon's puppet. Get out of here!!"

The mist completely surrounded Matt's body. "Fine," said the unmistakable voice of Phorcysmon, "I'll just leave you a little gift." The mist disappeared and Matt along with it, but a swarm of Waspmon and Vilemon took his place. T.K. knew he had to get the others, but as he darted away he was grabbed around the throat and turned to face a Karatemon; a black crow digimon with a purple, metal vest and fez with white pants and a fur wrap around its waist. Two swords hung from his black belt. "Where is the Light? Give us the one you call Kari!"

He couldn't breath and the digimon were laughing at his suffering. He had to get out; he had to warn the others.

"Boom Bubble…Pah!!"

"Blue Blaster!!"

T.K. felt the digimon release his neck and he fell into the cold snow, unable to move. His vision was blurry from lack of air. Sora and Tai were at his side in a flash. "T.K., are you alright?" said Sora. It seemed as tense as their fight had been, both had forgiven the other for their harshness.

"Yeah, I'm ok."

"Good, because after I told Kari to stay with the others, she would kill me if I brought you back hurt." The pair helped T.K. to his feet and brought him back to the group.

"Guys, you gotta digivolve," yelled Davis and there was a loud high scream from all but two digivices in the vicinity. Soon Greymon, Birdramon, Kabuterimon, Ikkakumon, Togemon, Angemon, Gatomon, Veemon, Stingmon, Aquilamon, and Ankylomon stood before the group, facing the vast swarm of evil digimon. "GO!"

Ice, fire, and every other element imaginable were being thrown between the digital beings. Champion digimon clashed in air and on land; unfortunately the evil digimon had the advantage of flight, whereas many of the chosen digimon were tall but grounded. Waspmon and Vilemon were dropping like flies against the might powers of the chosen digimon. Gabumon stayed back and guarded Kari on T.K.'s orders.

Soon there were few of the flying menaces left and the chosen digimon had the upper hand, until Karatemon decided to join the battle. "Ballistic Feathers!" yelled the crow and his wings began to glow, shooting feathers of fire at the teens. The digimon took the blow for their digidestined, but were unfortunately turned back into their in-training forms. "Crow Swords!" he yelled again, placing his swords in a V-like formation. Lasers shot from the swords and de-digivolved the remaining digimon.

"Now, give us the Light and no one else will get hurt," said Karatemon as he and the remaining handful of his squadron landed. "She is all our master wants. Give her to us and we won't kill you like we killed your friend."

"Then you'll have to pry her from my cold, dead hands!" yelled T.K., stepping in front of his love. He put one hand behind him and encased her hand with his.

"Excellent, I was worried I wasn't going to get to have any fun." Karatemon disappeared and just as quickly, reappeared in front of T.K., swords ready to strike.

"Dark Assassin!" said a voice causing Karatemon to cease his attack. It was a dark, sultry voice that echoed through the snow. No one recognized it, that is, except Sora and Yokomon.

A large, black circle surrounded everyone in the vicinity of the fight. Black mist seeped up from it and created a dome over everyone, blocking out the snow and the sun. Everyone in the dome could see each other as clear as day, but they were all encased in darkness. Kari could feel T.K. begin to shake, he hated the darkness, and whether or not he would admit it, it scared him.

Suddenly, the Waspmon and Vilemon began yelling and being deleted one by one, but no one was able to see their attacker. The in-training digimon began to shake in their digidestines' arms. "It's alright," said Sora. The other digidestined looked at her, not knowing what she could be talking about. They had no idea what the thing attacking was.

When there was only one of each digimon remaining, the dome began to melt away. As the darkness disappeared, it collected at the center of the circle. The mist vanished and Erebmon stood in its stead. He looked different to Sora, almost blurred. His black fur looked as though it was made of that black mist and his silver fur looked as though it was emitting light. Sora could feel a sensation of slight pain coming through her connection with Erebmon.

Erebmon turned toward the remaining Vilemon and Waspmon. He placed his paws by his side parallel to the ground, one by his chest, the other by his hip. The light that seemed to be coming from his silver fur began to collect the space between in hands until it was about the size of a softball. "Road to Dawn!" came the voice again as Erebmon threw the ball of light forward, striking both of the digimon until there was nothing.

T.K. could not believe what had just happened. He was only a rookie, how did he do that? Erebmon closed his eyes and a pained expression crossed his normally emotionless face. The dark mist began to settle, as if it were returning inside his body, but the light still shown through. 'Sora, I need to digivolve.' He sounded somewhat tired.

"I don't have a digivice for you," she yelled to him. None of the digidestined needed to guess that Erebmon asked to digivolve, but until now, they hadn't realized that Sora was never given a digivice for him.

'I don't need one.' Sora felt a tug at her mind. 'I am sorry, Faen. This will only happen the first time.' A pain shot through her head at these words, as if she had just been struck with a wooden board. She fell to her knees as the pain continued. Tai dropped to one knee next to her.

"Sora! Sora, what's wrong?" He was panicked but she was unable to answer. The pressure in her head was building and she thought her head would surely explode when the pressure and pain suddenly disappeared. She looked toward her digimon so she could see him when she yelled, but stopped. Erebmon had turned completely black but was surrounded by light.

"Erebmon digivolve to…Sangloupmon!" The light disappeared to reveal a purple and white wolf digimon. Bat-like wings covered his shoulders and shielded his eyes, much like on a horse harness. Red bat shaped markings appeared on his back and tail, and his feet and lower legs were covered by large, sharp blades. His long fangs protruded from his mouth and two hoop earrings hung from his left ear.

The wolf digimon rushed toward Karatemon with amazing speed. "Sticker Blade!" he yelled shooting hundreds of tiny blades toward his enemy. Though hit by a few, Karatemon was able to dodge most of the oncoming barrage and counter attacked with his swords, sending Sangloupmon flying.

He landed in front of the digidestined. He may have been able to hand weak champions in his rookie state, but an ultimate was too much for him in his champion. He struggled to his feet and stood between Karatemon and the digidestined. "Sangloupmon!" yelled Sora to her injured digimon. "Are you ok?" He didn't answer her. She noticed that he was keeping most of his weight off of his left front leg where the digimon had struck him.

"Give me Kari!!" yelled Karatemon.

Sangloupmon lowered his head into an attacking position and began to growl. Karatemon lunged forward at the group and Sangloupmon mirrored toward the crow, his white teeth glistening like the snow around him. The two met and Sangloupmon was knocked to the side with a loud, dog-like cry. Karatemon resumed his advance on the digidestined. _What are we going to do? We need help!_ thought Sora.

As Karatemon came close to the group, a high pitch scream caused everyone to jump. T.K. grabbed his digivice off of his belt, as did the others, but none of them were lighting up. "What is that?" yelled Yolei over the loud screech.

Sangloupmon attacked again, pushing the crow digimon away from the group; one more step and he could have grabbed them. T.K. felt something vibrate on his hip. _Who is calling me now?!_ he thought, thinking it was his cell. _Wait! It can't be!_

Light shot from T.K.'s waistband. "Gabumon digivolve to…Garurumon!"

Digidestined and digimon alike stared in shock as the Garurumon joined Sangloupmon and the two wolves began to fight side by side. "How is this possible?" said Izzy.

Kari closed her eyes and saw something that made her feel happy and sad at the same time. When she opened her eyes the vision she had seen was no longer there, so she closed them again, the vision and white light reappearing right in front of her love. "T.K.," she said quietly, "close your eyes. Do you see it?"

T.K. closed his eyes as he felt Kari's hand slip into his, but he did not see anything but the darkness. Strangely, he heard a heartbeat separate from his own ringing in his ears. "No, what should I see?" he said opening his eyes again.

Kari opened her tearing eyes to T.K. Of all the people here, she wished he could see this the most. She must be able to see it because of her connection to the Digital Spirits. "T.K.," she said quietly, "Matt is here."

* * *

Ok, so once again I didn't get everything into this chapter that I wanted to get, but it would have been a long chapter if I did. Longer than chapter 9. Anyway, what I left out here should make another chapter. PM me, review, anything. I love to hear from people! I know this chapter wasn't that great, but hey, everybody has a bad chapter. Anyway, I hope the Yamato fans are happier now. I know this made me happy when I wrote it. 


	13. All Of Me

**TO ALL MY FAITHFUL REVIEWERS!!! THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT AND BEEIN SO PATIENT!!!**

After four facebook messages, two text messages, a phone call and a death threat later, chapter thirteen has been recovered and finished. Fourteen will be out soon, but I might not been able to update as often anymore. I will do it as quickly as possible, though, hopefully at least once a week. Classes are going to kill me this semester. Anyway, on with the story. I don't own digimon and the warnings are the same as always.

* * *

When you cried I'd wipe away all of your tears  
When you'd scream I'd fight away all of your fears  
And I held your hand through all of these years  
But you still have  
All of me 

-**My Immortal by Evanescence**

* * *

"What?!" said T.K. assuming she was talking about the puppet body he saw earlier. "We need to get away. Phorcysmon…" 

"No, T.K.," said Kari lightly placing her hand in T.K.'s, "not that one. Reach out your hand."

T.K. wanted to do what Kari said, but he couldn't make his body move. The last time he believed that his brother was back, he was taken from him again. "Please, T.K., don't let him slip through your fingers like this," she pleaded, her voice breaking. "I'll help you."

She lifted their entwined hands and when they were straight out in front of them, T.K. could feel the air on top of his hand become warmer, as if someone was touching it. He looked at Kari, her eyes seemed glossed over with a white fog. T.K. stood there without moving, staring a Kari as the battle still raged around him. "He wants me to tell you not to lose hope. That is what Phorcysmon wants you to do."

T.K. stood there in awe. It had to be true this time, it had to be; he couldn't stand for it not to be. "Kari, could you tell him that I miss him?"

She tightened her hand around T.K.'s. There was so much pain in his voice. "He knows and he misses you, too, but he says he will always be here for you." A confused look came over her face. "He wants me to remind you that he is your…hogosha."

T.K. smiled, it was definitely Matt. He heard a yell as Garurumon and Sangloupmon finished off Karatemon and he disappeared into thousands of bits of data. The two digimon turned back into their rookie forms in a flash of white light. "Kari, can you ask Matt…"

"He's gone, T.K." T.K. noticed that his hand had become cold again and that Kari's eyes had returned to normal. "He disappeared when Karatemon was deleted. I'm sorry."

The two rookie digimon returned to the group where T.K. still stood in shock. "T.K., what's wrong?" asked Gabumon.

"Matt," said T.K., still staring at the place he had felt his brother. "He was right here." His lifted his hand back to where the warmth had just been, but his hand was only met by the cold. "He was right here," his word had become nothing more than whispers as he fell to his knees, "and I couldn't see him."

He couldn't help it, the tears began to flow. "Then, how do you know he was here?" asked Davis.

"I could see him." Kari's voice was soft as the snow that accumulated around them. "He wanted me to tell T.K. a few things."

"Kari, are you sure you weren't just seeing things?" said Ken.

Kari was about to retort, but Sora was the one who spoke. "No, she wasn't seeing things. I know because I've seen him too. He came to me in a dream, but it wasn't just a dream. I could feel his warmth."

The group was silent for a few moments, Gabumon broke the silence. "I knew he was here. I could feel him giving me strength, so I digivolved. Erebmon needed help."

"Speaking of which, what was up with those freaky attacks?" said Cody. "They were so dark."

"I've only seen two other digimon that had dark attacks like that," said Ken. His narrowed eyes were focused on the black digimon before the group, "Devimon and Phorcysmon."

"It's because he is a class of digimon known as a Nightmare Soldier," said Izzy furiously typing on his laptop. "These mostly consist of digimon based on mythical creatures of our world. Your from the Dark Area, aren't you, Erebmon?" The digimon looked to the ground and closed its eyes before nodding his head.

"But that area is filled with evil digimon!" yelled Tentomon. "There isn't an evil digimon that hasn't come from that place! Devimon, Myotismon, even Phorcysmon!"

"Erebmon is not an evil digimon!" yelled Gabumon, surprising the group. Gabumon hardly ever yelled. "If he was an evil digimon, we would have sensed it the minute we met him. And if he was, why didn't he attack us when he had the chance? He could digivolve when we couldn't, so he could have finished us easily, but he didn't. Besides, Matt would never send an evil digimon to us!"

Everyone looked a little ashamed. For a moment, they had truly believed that Erebmon could possibly be evil, but Gabumon made sense. Actions speak louder than words.

Sora could feel a sensation of extreme exhaustion coming through her connection with Erebmon. "Erebmon, are you alright?"

'I just need to rest…,' he said, his voice trailing near the end. Before anyone could react, the black digimon fell into the snow, unconscious.

"Erebmon!" yelled Sora as she ran to her friend, Gabumon at her side. She turned the digimon onto his side and held his head. "Erebmon, are you alright?"

The digimon did not stir except for his breathing. "Sora, try to speak to him in your mind." Biyomon was afraid. Digimon didn't normally pass out like that.

_Erebmon? Are you alright?_ Her voice sounded frantic in her mind, but she was afraid. She didn't want to lose her new digimon, not after she had just met him.

'I'll be alright, Faen.' His voice was weak and tired. 'I just need to rest. I will explain all of this later, but I need to save my strength for now. I'm sorry I can't change into something easier to carry, this is as small as I get.' There was a weak laugh and then their connection was severed.

"Is he ok, Sora?" asked Wormmon.

"I think so. He said he just needed to rest and that he would explain everything later." She sat there for a few minutes just looking at the dark digimon. The black of his fur was lighter, almost grey, and his silver fur was now a pearly white. _It must be a trick of the snow; no digimon can change its colors._ "Could someone help me carry him to my car?" she asked, eyes still on the digimon.

"Yeah, I'll help you, Sora," said Tai. He walked over and Sora help put the digimon on Tai's back. He felt awkward carrying the digimon because he was the same size as Tai and it reminded him of all the times he had to carry his friends like this in the digital world. That had always meant that they were doing badly, but they had just won a fight. "I think we should call it a day, ok guys?"

There were nods from each person in the group as they went to their cars, the younger digidestined going into the one that would bring them closest to home. Joe locked up the shop like he had promised. "Tai, I think I'm going to go to T.K.'s," said Kari. "I don't think he should be alone for a while."

Tai agreed and said he would tell their mom where Kari was. He walked to Sora's car with Erebmon on his back. He lowered him into Sora's back seat where he could lay down comfortably. "I'll follow you home and help you get him into your apartment." Sora just nodded her head. Tai could see the pained expression on her face. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"I'm just worried about Erebmon," she said. "I know he took a beating, but it wasn't enough to render him unconscious like this, was it? I mean, he seems stronger than the rest of our digimon."

"I really don't know," said Tai, wishing that he could help her. "I know _that_ isn't it though, Sora. Is it Matt?"

Sora lowered her head so that Tai couldn't see the tears welling in her eyes. She was so angry that Kari saw Matt and she didn't, but even more that T.K. couldn't see him at all. "T.K. has gone through so much," she said. "Why couldn't Matt show himself to him instead on Kari and me? T.K. needs him the most."

"Maybe there is more to it than that," said Tai, placing his hand on her shoulder. "Maybe there is something that controls who can and can't see Matt. I mean, Kari is connected to the Digital Spirits, so it would make sense that she could see someone who died in the digital world."

"What about me then?"

Tai paused. "I don't know."

Erebmon stirred in the backseat and the pair decided that they should get him home. Once they arrived at Sora's apartment, Tai pulled the digimon onto his back and Sora carried the other two in-training digimon. When they were inside, Tai placed the digimon on the couch and Sora covered him with a blanket. Sora looked at him with worry. "Don't worry, Sora, Erebmon is strong. He'll be just fine."

"It's not that," she said, "it's Ken. I'm ashamed to say this, but what if he's right? What if Erebmon is a dark digimon?"

"Do you trust him?" asked Tai.

"With my life."

"Then when he wakes up and explains like he said he would, trust what he says. I trust him and he isn't even my digimon. It's normal to be careful when we're at war, but we need to believe in those closest to us."

Sora looked at him and giggled. "Your right, Tai. I need to trust Erebmon completely, but when did you become so philosophical?"

Tai smiled. "I have my moments of brilliance. They may be few and distant from each other, but I tend to make sense once and a while." Then, Sora began to laugh, not a laugh to hide her pain, but an honest laugh from her toes. It was the first time she had really laughed since Matt disappeared. She was starting to heal and this made Tai's day. He so badly wanted to hold her in his arms, but she was still Matt's girl, whether he was here or not.

"Tai, you ok?"

He realized he had been staring at her and shook himself from his daydream. "Yeah, I'm ok. I was just thinking that it's good to see you laughing again." Sora blushed a deep red. "I better get going; I need to tell my mom where Kari is." He picked up Koromon and waved goodbye before heading home.

* * *

T.K. and Kari climbed out of the car with Tokomon, Gabumon and Salamon and went into T.K.'s apartment. His mom was still at work, so they turned on the lights and dug some food out of the fridge. They sat on the couch and watched a movie for a while, Kari laying her head on T.K.'s shoulder and their hands entwined. This was Kari's favorite place to be, right by him, knowing that he is all she needed. It made her feel relaxed. A smell filled her nose and she realized why she had enjoyed being carried by Matt about a month ago. Matt and T.K. wore the same cologne. It had reminded her of being with T.K. 

This made it even harder for her to do what she needed to do. She dreaded destroying their short time of peace, but she knew she had to ask. "T.K., you don't have to, but do you want to talk about Matt? I'm really worried about you. I know it's only been a day, but I would have thought you would have talked by now. I'm not trying to lecture, but you're bottling it up and that isn't good for you; it's making you bitter and angry. I know this is hurting you and I promise this will stay between us."

T.K. knew he needed to talk about it, but he didn't want to break down again. Matt never cried, so why did he always feel the need to. He felt so weak in comparison to his brother and he wanted to make Matt proud of him. "I'm just so angry…," he said trailing off.

"That he left you?" She knew she had to help him through this.

"No, I'm angry with myself; that I wasn't able to see what was happening and help him. I'm his brother; I should have figured it out. I know him better than anyone and I should have picked up on it."

"T.K., what could you have done?"

"I could have stopped him. I could have gone with him so he didn't have to be alone."

"Do you really think that Matt would allow either of those things to happen?" her voice was soothing yet assertive. She knew why he was thinking these things, but they were irrational. Matt was stronger than T.K. and would have tied the boy down just so he wouldn't follow him into danger.

T.K. looked down at the carpet and focused on the digimon that were sleeping there, their heads leaning against one another, Gabumon was asleep on the recliner. "No, but I feel like there was so much he hid from me and, maybe, if I went with him, he could have told me some things before he left. He was my brother, but some things about him were a secret even to me."

"But T.K., he did give you answers. He left his journal behind," she said, putting her free hand on top of the papers that were hidden in his pocket. "Maybe we should read it."

He pulled the sheets out of his pocket and unfolded them, once again exposing Matt's handwriting. His hands shook; he was scared what he might learn about his brother. "It will help you heal, T.K. We'll do this together, like always."

So, the two read the first two entries before T.K. said he had to stop. He let the tears flow now, knowing why Matt never cried didn't make it look so appealing anymore. Matt had given his life for T.K. in more ways than one, but why hadn't he told T.K. sooner? Why did he have to find out this way? Kari pulled the boy into a loving embrace. "He loved you, that's why," she said as if she could read his mind.

"Kari," he said as he released her, "I'm sorry about all of the things I've said the past few days. I never meant to make anyone angry or blame Matt for everything. I wish I could tell him I'm sorry."

"You were just trying to find an outlet for your feelings, it happens with anyone who loses someone dear to them. As for Matt, I'm sure he knows. He loved you very much and knows you loved him. It's all part of grieving."

The phone rang, causing the two to jump. T.K. wiped the tears from his eyes and answered the phone. "Hello? ...Oh, hi Mrs. Kamiya…yeah, Kari is here…Ok, just one second." He put his hand over the mouthpiece and turned to Kari. "It's your mom, she wants to talk to you."

Kari got up and walked over to T.K. She took the phone and gave him a kiss on the cheek before turning her attention to the phone. "Hey mom, what's up?"

"_Oh, hi dear, I just wanted to ask if T.K. mother will be home tonight."_

"I don't know, I can check." She turned to T.K. "Is your mom going to be here tonight?" T.K. nodded to her. "Yeah, she'll be here."

"_Good, because I think the weather is too bad for you to travel back home tonight, so I want you to stay at T.K.'s. School has already been cancelled for tomorrow. I'm sure Natsuko won't mind, but you better behave. I don't want to be a grandmother yet."_

"Oh my God, Mom!" yelled Kari. T.K. had overheard the conversation and began to laugh so hard his stomach began to hurt. "You know we would never do that. We're thirteen, gross!!"

"_Alright then, bye, sweetie."_

"Bye, Mom." She hung up the phone rolling her eyes and looked at T.K. who was rolling on the floor laughing. "What is so funny?"

"Your mom," he gasped.

"Well, I don't think it was very funny, she was serious. I swear that woman doesn't trust me."

T.K. pulled himself off the floor and wrapped his arms around her waist. "Well if my daughter was dating such a stud, I would be concerned too." He smiled a playful smile and began to giggle again.

Kari playfully slapped his shoulder and then pecked him on the lips. "You seem to be doing a lot better already."

"I've come to a conclusion. It isn't my or Matt's fault that he was killed, nor was it the fault of any digidestined. It's Phorcysmon's fault that Matt is dead and when we meet in battle, we'll make him wish he had never been programmed." He kissed her again and all worries left his mind, the first time this had happened in a month.

After the kiss was finished, she pulled back. "We'll defeat him together," she said.

"Like always," he assured and the two went to the kitchen and made hot chocolate. The returned to the couch and started another movie, watching it under a blanket in each other's arms.

* * *

When Natsuko returned home at 9, she knew she was going to find T.K. and Kari there with their digimon. Susumu had called her at work and asked if it would be alright if Kari stayed the night. She seemed very worried that their kids were alone. Natsuko didn't know why, she trusted the pair completely. They were smart kids. 

She walked down the entry hall and could smell hot chocolate and popcorn. They were watching movies. As she entered the living room, she couldn't help but smile at the scene. Kari was sitting on T.K.'s lap with her arms wrapped around his neck and her head lying on his shoulder. His arms her wrapped around her waist and his head rested on hers. The blanket that had obviously been wrapped around them both now sat on the floor, gathered at T.K.'s feet, but what made her smile the most was the fact that they were both fast asleep. Natsuko walked over and wrapped the blanket around the pair again. She found another for Gabumon and one more for the two on the floor. She turned off the lights and went to the kitchen to make a little supper for herself; leaving them all to dream.

* * *

Sora woke up to her cell phone vibrating on the wooden table. She looked at the clock on the wall to see that it was 7:30, she had missed supper. She opened her cell to see that she had a new text message from Akira. She opened it. 

_Sora, we are having a concert this week and we're dedicating it to Matt. Obviously the digidestined have their reserved seats if you still want them. The band was wondering if you would sing a song for Matt. I know if he was here he would love it if you wrote one. Let me know._

She wrote one back to him saying that she would try but she wasn't really a writer or a singer so it wasn't concrete yet. He returned one saying they would have a spot for her if she wants it.

She did want to do this, but she wasn't as good at writing songs as Matt was, she couldn't just make one up on the spot. That and she didn't know how to write music, but she was going to try. She heard something stir behind her and turned around. Yokomon was sleeping between Erebmon's arm and side. To think a while ago the two didn't really trust each other and now they were cuddling in their sleep.

Erebmon's eyes opened and for a moment they appeared purple before changing to red again. His fur had regained its black and silver hue, but he was obviously not back to full strength yet. He pushed himself to a sitting position with a shaking arm, but continued to cradle the sleeping Yokomon in the other. _Evening. You alright?_

'I'll survive,' he said, his emotionless voice ringing in her mind again.

_Erebmon, I don't want to push you, but you said you would explain when you woke up. I shouldn't even be asking you this, but why do you have attacks of darkness?_

'No, it's alright. I understand that the power of darkness is believed to be an evil trait, so let me explain. In every world there are the main elements of Light and Darkness. Every other element comes from these two. Now understand there is a good and a bad side to every element. Fire can bring warmth and light at night but can also burn down a forest. Water gives life as everything needs it to survive, but it also can drown. The same rule works for the elements of light and darkness; think of these two as a cycle of the day. Obviously, there is the goodness of the light of day and the evil of the darkness of night. These are the only stages that people believe exist, but there are two others. The evil side of light is comparable to twilight; a creature of the light slowly using these powers to hurt and destroy. But there is another category with the creatures on the road to dawn.'

_Like your attack, they're creatures of darkness who long for the light._

'Very good, but they can also be a creature of the light that was consumed by darkness and is fighting to remain in the light. The creatures of the dawn are outsiders on both sides of the field; they have been disowned by the darkness, but are rejected by the light. No creature ever stays a creature of the dawn hour; they either return to the night or continue to morning. That is why Erebmon are so rare.'

_I don't understand._

Erebmon looked at the digimon that still slept in his arms, obviously trying to think of how to explain this. 'It is only possible for an Erebmon to be created when a creature of the dawn hour is deleted. Phorcysmon has been hunting these creatures as of late, so more could be hatching soon, but not all are destined to be Erebmon. This can make a creature that is of both light and darkness and possesses both elements within their body. Light and darkness are not meant to occupy the same space and therefore clash. That is why I was unable to stay conscious. I am not strong enough to keep the elements separated in battle yet.'

_So, I really _was_ feeling pain coming from you._ She couldn't believe it, a creature that was born into a life that was guaranteed to be full of pain. _Is there anything I can do?_

'No, you are not meant to share this pain with me, and I obviously need to work harder on closing my emotional and physical connection with you during battle. If I don't, you will feel my pain and may act upon my emotions. I don't want you rushing into a battle because of the anger I feel.' She could feel his sadness. 'I am sorry I have caused you pain.'

_No, you don't need to be sorry. Pain is never something someone should have to bear alone. Erebmon, you seem to know a lot about the digital world, so you know what should have happened to Matt?_

'I'm sorry, Faen, I don't. Only two humans have died in the digital world since our creation. One _chose_ to protect the digital world with his data, so I don't know what would happen to Matt.'

_But maybe Matt chose his path, too. Gisir, should we read another entry?_ Sora was surprised to realize she had actually become anxious to read the journal. She loved being connected with Erebmon and sharing the experience. She wished there would be more pages than there were.

Erebmon smiled in his mind at her use of the word and Sora took that as a go ahead. He was apparently enjoying this as much as she was. 'Knowing him is like knowing my history. I need to make the past Chosen Children of Friendship proud.'

She opened the journal…

* * *

_August 29, 1998_

_I went to Mom's yesterday and I was really glad to see T.K. We played all day, but it was really hot on Sunday and I wore my new shirt without the sleeves. I felt so cool, but I forgot about my bruise. When Mom saw it she was really mad and kept asking if my dad did it to me. I didn't want to answer her because I had promised Dad I wouldn't tell. He didn't do it again._

_She kept yelling at me about how I was so selfish and I yelled at her what Dad had yelled at me. "Yeah, just like you!" She got really mad and started to cry. She yelled that I was just like my father, pig-headed and stubborn. She told me to go outside and leave her alone._

_T.K. and I went and played in the yard and he asked me why I yelled at Mom. I told him it was because we care about each other. If we didn't yell, that meant we didn't care what happened to each other, so yelling isn't always such a bad thing. He didn't get it, I didn't think he would._

_He asked me to play him a song on my harmonica, so I pulled it out of my pocket and played the only song I knew. I didn't have a name for it yet, but it was a sweet and sad at the same. Mom had given me my harmonica when T.K. was born and I had loved it ever since, even when we were mad at each other. When I finished my song I opened my eyes and smiled. T.K. had fallen asleep._

_I wanted to carry him into the house, but Mom doesn't like it when I carry T.K., so I went and got her. She was in the kitchen. I walked in and saw she had been crying still and my heart hurt. I forgot about T.K. for a minute and told her I was sorry for what I said, for being a bad kid and making her and Dad separate. She kneeled down in front of me and hugged me. She said that no matter what anyone told me, I wasn't a bad kid and that it wasn't my fault that she and Dad weren't together anymore. She told me never to blame myself for that and kissed me on the cheek. She told me she loved me very much and that she was sorry for what she said too. Then she cried some more, just like Dad, but I still couldn't cry._

_I remembered T.K. and told her about him. I showed her where he had fallen asleep and she picked him up. She asked what we had been doing that made him so tired and I said I played him a sad song on my harmonica. She said it must have been a lullaby. She carried T.K. inside and I knew what to call my song. It was 'T.K.'s Lullaby.'_

* * *

'See, not all stories end in sorrow for him. His family did love him very much.' 

_That's what families are for, Erebmon. No matter what, families are always there for each other._

'Like you are for me. You still trusted me even though you knew I was from the Dark Area, so you must be my family.'

Sora was touched by his comment. She had never really thought about it like that. _Yes, Erebmon, we are family._

'The next one looks short, we should read it.' So Sora began to read.

* * *

_September 1, 1998_

_I started at my new school today since Dad and I moved away. I have never felt all alone before, but I don't feel like I fit in here. Everyone plays soccer and I don't know how, so I just watch. There are these two kids, a boy with dark brown hair and a girl with red hair that seem to be really good. The girl with the red hair is really pretty, but I'm too scared to go talk to her. I know they are both in my grade, but our classes aren't together and our grade is so big. I hope I meet her someday._

* * *

'Sounds like you.' 

_I think it was me. Tai and I always played soccer during recess in school and I remember there always being a boy who sat on the far hill and watched us. I never went and talked to him. Who knew he would get his wish?_

The two laughed at the thought. Sora looked at the clock and saw that it was getting late. _Why don't we all sleep tonight? We deserve it._ Sora could feel that Erebmon was still tired and the trio went to bed.

* * *

Tai was working on some overdue homework when he finally heard that school was cancelled. He looked at the clock, 9, fabulous. _Wish I would have known that sooner. I just blew my whole day!_ he thought angrily. He threw his pencil across the room and crossed his arms. _Stupid weatherman._

He jumped when he heard his phone ring and picked it up, worried it was Kari needing help. He relaxed when he saw Izzy's name on the screen. "Hey man, what's up?"

"TAI!" Izzy yelled excitedly across the line causing Tai to quickly pull the phone away from his ear.

"Holy crap, Izzy, take it down a notch." _This is weird; Izzy doesn't get this excited about anything. He's a pretty level-headed kid._ "Now, what is it?"

"I can't go into detail over the phone, but I need you to come over quick! I think I figured out what happened to Matt! I think we can save him!"

"WHAT?!" yelled Tai. This was the best news he had heard in a long time. He could feel his permanent chill losing its immortality.

"Yeah, but don't tell the others yet, I want to be one hundred and ten percent sure this will work before we tell them. I don't want to get their hopes up and then crush them like that, especially T.K. My parents are gone for the week, so they won't mind you coming so late. Can you come?"

"I'll be there in two seconds. Bye." He hung up the phone and shoved it into his pocket. He ran to the front door, slipped on his shoes, grabbed his coat, and left with many protests from his mother. Koromon jumped into his arms as he left and within minutes he was speeding down the empty road toward Izzy's.

* * *

Sora had this dream many times since Matt disappeared. She was sitting on the ocean's shore where they had gone for one of her favorite dates, but lately Matt would be absent the dream. For a while, his disappearance in reality and caused him to disappear in her dreams, with the exception of the previous night. She sat watching the sun set in brilliant colors of red, pinks, and golds and the sea breeze blew through her hair. She had always loved the sea. 

Normally, in this dream she just sat there and watched the sun set and the waves crash against the beach, but fate had a different plan for this dream. She felt someone sit beside her on the blanket and she looked to the side. There in the same white clothes he had been wearing before, was Matt.

"Hey, beautiful," he said smiling.

"Hey," she said in awe. She hadn't thought she would see him again. The pair just sat there for a while, staring at the sunset. Then she felt him slip his hand into hers, once again just feeling the warmth, but no touch. "Listen, Matt, Akira asked me to write a song for you, but I don't know how to write music. I want to do it so badly, but I can't."

Matt looked at her and smiled again. "Sora, do you forget who I am? Go into my room and look in the box by my bass. There are all kinds of music there that don't have words. Just look at those."

"But what about the lyrics. I can't write like you can."

He hand got warmer as he squeezed her hand. "Yes you can. Just write what you truly feel. No matter what you're writing about, it always turns out when you're writing from the heart."

The two sat there quietly for a while, long after the sun set behind the hills and the stars came out. Suddenly, Matt began to move. "I'm sorry, Sora, but I have to go."

This made her sad, she wanted more time with him. "Will I see you again tomorrow?"

"I don't think so," he said, his voice was as sad as hers. "I'm not as strong as I was before and I'm not sure if I'll be able to do this much anymore, appearing to you all I mean."

"Can I ask you why you chose me and Kari to appear to? Why not T.K.?"

"I couldn't and that's all I know."

"Matt, promise me I have _really_ been seeing you and this isn't _just_ a dream." A tear escaped from each of her eyes and began to slide down her cheeks.

He grabbed her hand and helped her to her feet, kissing the tear off one of her cheeks and wiping away the other. "This is real, I promise you that. I have come to see you twice now, and for all I know, this could be the last time I see you like this." He put his hand behind his back and brought it back out with a small cluster of cherry blossoms in it. The smell washed over the two digidestined as he placed the flowers above her ear. "I love you, Sora, please don't ever forget that. I will always be here for you. I've made sure of that."

"I love you too," she said, the tears threatening her eyes again as she thought of the journal and the bracelet. "I will never forget you. I'll keep every piece of you I have left."

"Sora, you still have all of me," he said kissing her hand, "and don't worry, this fight's not over yet."

He walked out over the water's surface toward the east and slowly faded away, leaving Sora all alone on the moonlit beach. She just stood there looking at the space Matt had previously occupied but shielded her eyes as the sun began to rise over the hill again.

She awoke, this time with a warm feeling in her chest. She looked at the clock, she had hardly been asleep three hours. Erebmon was sitting asleep in his corner leaning against the wall with Yokomon still in his arms. Sora ran her fingers through her hair and something fell into her lap. She picked it up and moved it so she could see it in the moonlight. Her eyes teared as the smell of cherry blossoms flooded the room.

* * *

There was a knock on Izzy's door and he ran to open it. "Tai," he said as he ripped open the door, "it took me so long, but I think I actually figured out how to save…," but he trailed off. 

A hand shot forward and grabbed Izzy around the throat, lifting him off the ground. His air was cut off as he clawed at the constricting appendage.

"You always were too smart for your own good," said a voice, and before he was thrown across the room, Izzy caught a glimpse of red eyes behind blonde locks.

* * *

Yay, cliffhanger!!! I'll get chapter 14 out soon to make up for the long wait; probably tomorrow or Friday. I promise it will be Friday morning at the latest!! Thank you again!! R&R!! 


	14. Why Can't It Be Easy?

Ok ,so here the next chapter, just like I promised. More action, more hints, more digimon!!! I wanted to make up for the whole blonde move. This one probably isn't written as well as the others, but I tried. If there are any problems, let me know and I will fix them. Enjoy! I don't own digimon or anything for that matter, only a story.

OK and I _**really**_ hate the title for this chapter so it **_will_** change. Please give me some ideas. Normally they just come to me, but this one doesn't really have a theme. So please, help me!!!

* * *

"I have learned two lessons in my life: first, there are no sufficient literary, psychological, or historical answers to human tragedy, only moral ones. Second, just as despair can come to one another only from other human beings, hope, too, can be given to one only by other human beings."

-**Elie Wiesel**

* * *

Tai knocked on the door for what seemed like the twentieth time, but there was still no answer. He couldn't believe his luck, about half way to Izzy's house, his car just shut down. It took him twenty minutes to get the stupid thing started again. He was sure Izzy must have gone to bed, but for how excited he was when Tai talk to him, Tai had thought the little genius would be awake for days. "Izzy! Let me in, dude," he yelled knocking on the door again. "This is ridiculous, I'm coming in!" 

Tai opened the door and walked inside. The entry hall was dark and the only light in the apartment came from the street lights outside. He was shocked by the sight that met him. Furniture was thrown everywhere inside the small apartment and there were holes in the wall where it appeared someone had punched it. Broken glass and dishes were scattered everywhere. Snow was coming in through the broken window and collected on the wooden floor causing the room to be freezing cold. "Izzy, where are you?" He was panicked by the absence of the digidestined. "Izzy, please answer me."

Tai heard a weak groan coming form the rubble near the window and he saw something moving. "Izzy!" he yelled as he ran to the boy. Izzy was lying on his stomach among the glass from the broken window. Tai kneeled by his intelligent friend and carefully rolled him over onto his back. Tai cursed under his breath as he looked over his damaged comrade. His body was riddled with scrapes and bruises caused by fist strikes. Larger gashes could be seen on his forearms, obviously received by defending himself from some sharp object. His right arm was twisted and broken. Snow, glass, and blood had collected in Izzy's spiky hair. All of his wounds were still bleeding, telling Tai that this hadn't happened too long ago.

"Mo…ti…mon?" gasped Izzy.

Tai looked around and saw Koromon by the small jelly-looking digimon. He was unconscious, but Koromon assured Tai he would be ok. "He'll be ok, Izzy," said Tai calmly. Izzy needed to rest.

"Tai?" Izzy opened his eyes as far as he could manage and fear emanated from them. "Tai…get out…of here." His voice was weak but panicked. "He's…still…here!"

"Who's still here?" said Tai looking around before returning his gaze to his friend. Izzy's eyes were starting to close slowly sending Tai into a panic. He lightly shook the boy so as to wake him but not harm him. "Izzy, you can't fall asleep! You have to stay awake!"

"Re-…unite…the three… parts." After the words left his lips, Izzy went limp in Tai's arms. Tai panicked even more and felt for a pulse. His heart began to relax when he found one.

Tai mentally kicked himself and grabbed his cell phone out of his pocket. He stood up and moved to the window for better reception and called the three numbers that had been drilled into his mind since he could talk.

"_911, what is your emergency?_" said the woman on the other side of the line.

"I'm at the residence of Izzy Izumi and I need an ambulance." He realized he sounded a lot calmer than he felt.

"What seems to be the problem?"

"My friend has been…" but he was cut off and dropped the phone when a fist connected with his jaw. He was pushed up against the wall by his shoulders, but he didn't need to look at his attacker to know his identity, he would know that punch anywhere. "He's pulled out the big guns already, huh Matt?" he said looking into the red eyes hidden behind the blonde locks. He had a black sweatshirt on with the hood pulled over his head to hide his face from passer-bys; he _was_ supposed to be dead after all.

Tai looked at his friend's body and smirked. There was a thin trail of fresh blood trickling down his face from where his skin had split over his cheekbone. Izzy hadn't gone down without a fight. "Give me Kari," he said, but his voice was not normal. Tai could hear Matt's voice when his body spoke, but there was another, deeper voice with it as well. He knew that voice, Phorcysmon.

"So you really are a puppet now, aren't you?" He looked over to the side and saw Koromon unconscious next to Motimon. Matt must have taken care of him first.

"Give me the Light!!" Matt pushed Tai harder into the wall causing the plaster to start cracking.

"No, way in hell!" Tai yelled back. Matt was pushing him even harder and Tai screwed up his face in pain. The wall was starting to crumble behind him and soon he would be pinned between the support boards.

Matt pulled back and then lunged forward, driving a punch into Tai's stomach. _He's a lot stronger since the last time we fought_, thought Tai as the air rushed out of him. Matt allowed him to fall to the ground, clutching his stomach and gasping to regain his breath. Then he was picked up by his neck and held in the air, but this time, not by his blonde friend. The one holding his neck was Phorcysmon with Matt by his side. "You pass this on to your pathetic friends," said Phorcysmon with his sultry voice. "I will set Matt after each and every one of you until I get what I want. We can end this quickly with as little loss as possible, or you can allow many innocent people to get hurt. Give me the Light, and this can all be over."

Tai couldn't manage to make any words come out of his constricted airway so he did the only thing he could think of to give his answer; he spit in Phorcysmon's face. This obviously angered the digimon, causing him to throw Tai across the floor where he landed with a thud next to Izzy. He felt small shards of glass slip into his skin on his arm before he stopped and Phorcysmon strode over to him. He lunged forward with his sword, Tai just managing to dodge it with his burning lungs, and created a large hole in the floor. Tai saw the red stain on the blade as the digimon pulled it back and knew it was Matt's. Without notice, the blonde landed a kick to Tai's side causing him to lose his breath again.

He couldn't get his breath back and he had gone too long without it. Before the darkness overtook him, Tai looked up at his late friend, his face lit by red and blue lights. "This isn't over yet, Tai," he said before he and his master disappeared in a cloud of darkness. As he passed out, he heard the police crash through the door.

* * *

Tai opened his eyes and white light flooded into them. He squeezed his eyes shut and tried to move, but an ache flashed through his body and he let out a pained groan, pulling the attention of the many teens in the room. 

"Tai," cried a voice that could only belong to his baby sister, "you're ok! I was so worried, you got so beat up! What happened? Who did this to you? Why were you outside so late?"

"Woah, Kari," said Davis. Tai's vision was still a little fuzzy, but he could see Davis grabbing Kari so she wouldn't hurt Tai in her panic. "Give him a minute, he's been out for almost a day. Let the guy get his bearings before we interrogate him."

_A day!_ he thought. _There's no way I could have been out for that long._ Then he remembered the fight and how much stronger Matt had been. It was almost as if he was a digimon himself with all the power behind that punch, and poor Izzy… "How is Izzy doing?" he asked as Ken and Joe helped him sit up.

The group around him looked to the floor. "Not so good," said Yolei. "He's in a drug induced coma. The doctor said it was lucky that you called when you did. He has a lot of broken bones and some internal and external bleeding. Whoever attacked you nearly killed him, so they put him under so he won't feel anything. The nurses are still pulling shards of glass out of him."

"Tai," said T.K., "who did this to you?"

Tai looked at the younger blonde and though he was worried about Izzy he could not help but feel a glimmer of hope looking at the boy. He no longer seemed tired or angry, and the hope that emanated from his eyes could be no other than that of his crest. Something had happened to change T.K. back to his old self since their episode in the café. He didn't want to ruin that, but they had the right to know. "Matt and Phorcysmon."

"No," said T.K. not losing any of the hopeful shine, which surprised Tai, "it wasn't Matt, it was Matt's body. There is a difference between the two now. Matt is the spirit that Kari saw and Matt's body is a puppet. Matt would never do anything like this." He gestured to Izzy who lay in the hospital bed next to Tai.

Tai looked over at his damaged friend, and winced. He had been cleaned up, but he looked even worse now that he was in the light. He had tubes connected everywhere and cuts and bruises covered his face. His right arm had a cast from his hand to his shoulder and a deep purple ring encircled his neck where someone had obviously tried to strangle him. His eyes were closed and he took shallow, labored breaths. Motimon had snuggled into the space between Izzy's left arm and chest, in a restless sleep.

"Why would anyone want to do this to poor Izzy?" asked Mimi, holding his uncased hand.

Once again, Tai knew, but he didn't know if he should tell them. Izzy wanted to wait until he knew if it would work, but then again, at this point he didn't know if Izzy would be awake in time to find out. Besides, with the clue Izzy gave him, he was going to need the other's help to figure it out. "Because Izzy is too smart." Kari looked at him, as did the others, with confusion. "I was out last night because Izzy had called me. He said that he couldn't explain on the phone, but I needed to come over to figure out if it would work before we told the rest of you. Phorcysmon must have been listening." He said the last part more to himself than for everyone else.

"Tell us what?" asked Cody.

"Izzy thought he might have found a way to bring Matt back."

"WHAT?!?!" yelled the group. Their full attention was on their old leader, even Davis with his flea-like attention span, hanging on his every word.

"Well, what did he say?" asked Sora. She could hardly believe what she was hearing. They might be able to save him?

"Nothing," he said with a shrug, though it shot another wave of pain through him. He was going to kill Matt's body when he got a hold of him. "All he said before passing out was 'Reunite the three parts.' Then I called 911 and got knocked around by Matt and his puppet master."

"Matt's body," said T.K.

"Well that makes no sense!" said Davis. "What three parts? Do we need them to figure out _how_ to save Matt or to _actually_ save Matt?

"He did leave us in quite a predicament," said Ken. "I'm sure he thought we would understand. That or he didn't finish what he was trying to stay."

"Nonetheless, we know there could be a way to save Matt," said Sora, a smile spreading across her face, "and that is more than we had before."

"What about his laptop?" asked Cody.

"No one could find it in his apartment," said Yolei. "Phorcysmon must have taken it with him."

"Yeah," said Kari, "but when Izzy wakes up, he can tell us what to do."

"You mean _if_ he wakes up," said Joe. Unlike the others, he knew the extent of damage his body had taken and that he might not come out of his coma. And even if he did wake up, he might not remember the answer.

"No, we mean when," said T.K. "I already lost all hope and worked back to it, I won't lose it all again. We have to believe in Izzy and hope he will wake up. We need him for more than saving Matt."

Joe nodded and smiled. "You're right T.K., when."

There was a peaceful silence in the room, but the mood was shattered when Tai's stomach gave a hungry growl loud enough to scare SkullGreymon. Tai blushed while the other's laughed, just like old times. "I'll go find a nurse and see if we can get you something to eat," said Kari. She gave her big brother a kiss on the forehead. "I'm glad you're alright."

She walked to the door and hesitated. Then, she flung it open and stepped outside; slamming it shut, but not before Tai saw a multitude of camera flashes. He also noticed the digimon were standing outside the door, only moving for Kari to exit. "What was that?" said Tai.

"The media has been having a field day with this," said Mimi. "When one digidestined was killed it was headline news; when two more are beaten, one almost to death, it's world news. People have been trying to get you and Izzy's picture ever since it got out what happened. Their saying this is going to be Worlds War II (**Worlds** War Digital vs. Human war)."

"Don't be surprised if Kari doesn't come back for a while," said T.K. "They'll probably follow her all the way to the cafeteria. The police stated that they had found two young teenagers and two digimon on the scene which sent the media into a frenzy. So, because of that mistake, the whole world knows our digimon are back. We don't have to hide them anymore."

"Don't worry about them though," said Sora nodding her head to the door. "They were trying to push by our digimon until Erebmon got there. Apparently there is something about him that scares them all."

"Probably because he's a dark digimon," said Ken.

"Ken, we've been over this. He's not evil," said Sora.

Once again, Tai hated the situation he had been put in, but it was going to be easier with Kari gone. "Listen guys, I have something to tell you," he said, eyes on the sterile floor. "Before Phorcysmon left, he told me that he wanted Kari. He said until we give her to him, he would have Matt keep attacking us, one by one until there was no one left to protect her."

"Well that's just too bad because it could take a long time to take all of us out," said Davis with a smile.

"Right," said T.K., "we'll protect her to our last breath. Matt was willing to do it, so I am too. Besides, we'll have beaten him by then."

Tai smiled, he couldn't remember why he was so nervous to tell the group. He knew that they would all agree that Kari needed to be protected and would be more that willing to do it. He was just afraid that something like what happened to Matt or Izzy would happen to someone else. Phorcysmon had been more than willing to kill him, he would surely be the same way with the others.

Tai let out a large yawn. How could he have been out for so long and still be so tired? Mimi smiled at their leader. "Maybe we should all get some sleep."

"Will those journalists leave you alone long enough to let you go home?" asked Tai.

"Who said we were going home?" asked Cody. "Haven't you noticed we're in a ward?" He honestly hadn't, he had been too worried about Izzy. "There are enough beds for all of us. We're staying here for the night."

Kari walked in, once again followed by flashes and shouts, and placed a tray of hospital food on Tai's table. He took a mouthful and swallowed, it was awful. "Ugh, this food is terrible! How long do I have to stay here?"

The group laughed at Tai again, but Sora was the one who answered. "The doctor said you could leave tomorrow. He said you should be alright to go to Matt's memorial concert."

"His what?" said Tai through another mouthful of food.

"The Teenage Wolves are doing a concert in Matt's memory tomorrow night," said Kari. "They saved tickets for us just like they always do. Got a bass player too, but they said he's nothing in comparison to Matt."

More and more digidestined began to yawn and everyone decided it was time for them to go to sleep. They each picked a bed and Sora told Erebmon to bring all the digimon inside. They came in and locked the door, but Erebmon stood watch by it just in case.

"Sora," said T.K. a while later, long after the others had fallen asleep and they were the only two awake, "do you have Matt's journal with you?"

"Yeah, I bring it everywhere."

"Do you mind if I read it? My papers are at home."

"What entry are you on?"

"The third."

"Well, I'm on the fifth, so why don't you read the next two and then we can read some together." She handed the journal to T.K. as he nodded and read the two entries at the foot of her bed.

After about ten minutes, he looked back at her with tears welling in his eyes, he had long passed not wanting to show them when he read Matt's words. "Ok." He moved up by her and they turned the page to the fifth entry, and after Sora had made sure Erebmon was connected with her, they began to read.

* * *

_July 17, 2002_

_Wow, it's been a long time since I wrote in this thing. I haven't actually had a lot of time though, with school and taking care of the apartment, so I guess I should catch it up on my life. I'm twelve now, going to start middle school this next year and then off to high school. I can't wait. Anyway, our family has gotten a little rocky. Since that episode when I was eight, I've seen my mom less and less. Our visits got shorter and shorter until they just didn't happen anymore. The same thing happened with our phone calls. I think I hear from her maybe once a month, but she is always so busy and we only talk for a minute or two. It's ok; I'm not her kid anymore._

_T.K. comes over less often too, but he at least comes, and every time I see him, he still looks excited to see me. He face lights up like it's Christmas. He's the thing that keeps me going, the one piece of happiness in my life. See, I don't have very many friends. Friends cause attachment and emotions. Emotions make you weak and I need to be strong for T.K. I can never let my guard down._

_Anyway, my dad sent me to this lame-o summer camp. He thinks 'it will make a man out of me; build me some muscle and get me a good woman.' Whatever. I'm lanky, that's who I am. I blame it on my parents; bad genes. I already get giggles from girls in the halls at school, why would I need to give them another reason to bother me. I mean dad said he got a 'good woman' and look what happened to him. I'll pass on the whole love thing._

_So about this camp, I'm rooming with these two guys in this dirty cabin that almost makes the theater floor look more inviting; spilled pop and all. One is a total hypochondriac; probably got sent to camp to 'turn him into a man' too. The other is an obnoxious boy. He wasn't too bad when I first met him, said his name was Tai, but after that he was like a child with ADD on a sugar high. Man he has a lot of energy. He never stops! No wonder he's a soccer player._

_T.K. is here too! I was so excited to be able to see him, but he is given different activities to do with the younger kids. He says the guy he's rooming with is nice, but a big nerd and kept him up until the early hours of the morning with his typing. _

_There is one person here who I am really interested in, though. She's a red-head with a blue hat. Anyway, she looks familiar to me. I think she goes to my school, but I'm not sure. All I know is she is beautiful._

_No, I can't look at her like that. First off, what do I know, I'm twelve. Second, even if we were older I can't have feelings for her. Those feelings pulled my family apart and I won't go through that again. That feeling makes you weak._

_But I just looked out the window and it's starting to rain. Wait…it's snow…in July! I need to go check this out._

* * *

"See, Sora," said T.K., "Matt has been attracted to you since the get-go." He gave her a mischievous smile. 

"You knew, didn't you?" she said a little shocked by what she just read. Matt had liked her since their first adventure, but he didn't say anything. Why was he so afraid to tell people his feelings? Just because his parents split didn't mean that love was a plague. His parents separated because of a lack of love not because they cared too much.

"Matt took the divorce harder than anyone," said T.K. as if reading her mind, "even harder than Mom and Dad. He changed so much so quickly. He became extra protective of me and didn't smile a genuine smile. It was fake and he only did it when he thought I needed reassurance. He became sarcastic and I never saw him cry anymore. Eventually he stopped talking as much, became more of an observer of the conversations around him." He looked down as he remembered a conversation they had when T.K. was six. "He once told me that he didn't want to have feelings anymore, so he got rid of them. He said no one would hurt him with them ever again, that he didn't mind being alone, he was used to it. It wasn't until we went to the digital world that he started to change."

"Unfortunately the first emotion he found was anger," Sora said with a smile, "and that Tai was the first to experience it. I've been to a lot of his soccer games and I still haven't seen anyone who can hit Tai harder than Matt. He really knocked some sense into that kid."

T.K. let out a muffled laugh. His brother had gone full circle since the divorce, changing back to the caring brother T.K. had always known.

"Uhh, quiet!" yelled Yolei. "People are trying to sleep!" Unfortunately this action woke all the other digidestined and digimon, causing a lot of complaining. T.K. laughed a lot harder and Sora joined him. This was the way things should be, the way they used to be.

The group talked for a while as none of them were able to go back to sleep at this point. They were having a good conversation until the unmistakable sound of Tai stomach broke through. They turned to him, his face beat red. "What?! That food was crap!"

Sora started to laugh. "Don't worry, Tai. I'll go out and smuggle in something for you to eat from the gas station down the road."

"Sora," said Biyomon, "you can't go out there by yourself!"

'She's right, Tai warned you about Phorcysmon and his plan to destroy each of you one at a time. You'll be putting yourself in danger. We need everyone we have left to beat him.'

"Guys, give me a little credit," said Sora, "I didn't say I was going by myself. I thought Biyomon and Erebmon could come with me. I know I shouldn't be alone, especially when Phorcysmon is using Matt to get to us."

"I'll go with her, too," said T.K. "I can't sleep anyway. Patamon, Gabumon, you're coming too, right?"

"Of course," Patamon smiled. "Where ever you go, we're going to go too." Gabumon nodded in agreement.

The two digidestined got up and donned their coats to protect them from the chilly winter air. They waved goodbye to the others and left the room, happy that the journalists had decided to give up for the night. The group walked to the gas station talking about Matt, but for the first time, it didn't hurt Sora or T.K. to do so. They only spoke of the good times they had with the blonde and laughter came frequently from the two. _This is the way it should be,_ she thought.

They entered the store with their digimon and received amazed stares from the cashier and the few customers that roamed the aisles. They grabbed some snacks and started to head toward the checkout counter when T.K. stopped.

"What's wrong T.K.?" asked Sora as she saw the angered look on his face. She walked over to him and looked at the magazine rack where T.K.'s eyes were glaring. There was a tabloid newspaper called '_The Real News_' sitting on the shelf with a picture of Matt on the cover. The headline above it read, "Digidunces: There's No Way They Can Win." T.K. grabbed it off the shelf and placed it on the pile of goodies in his arms. "T.K., we're not really going to buy that? It's a tabloid. Who cares what they say."

"That's just it, Sora," said T.K. placing his items on the counter, "a lot of people read this one and a lot of them think it's true. We should see what they are saying. My mom worked for this paper for a while and she says they actually do surveys to see what people think about pertinent issues and write a story that confirms the most popular outcome. Apparently, people are afraid we are going to fail."

Sora thought about this but her thoughts were disturbed by the cashier. "Your total comes to $23.97. Would you like a bag for this?" asked the woman.

"Yes, please," said Sora as she paid.

They sat in silence as the woman packed the snacks into a couple bags and handed them to the pair. "You two are digidestined, aren't you?" They nodded. "Well, don't believe everything you read in that damn paper, ok? Even though there are those that don't believe you can do it, there are many of us who believe you can. You've done it before; you can do it again, even if you did lose that poor boy. If nothing else, do it for him."

Sora looked at her and nodded again with a smile. "Don't worry," said T.K., "we'll do it for everyone, not just ourselves. This is our world and we are responsible for all those that are in it. We have to protect everyone who believes there's a chance as well as those who don't."

The woman was taken aback for a minute before her eyes began to soften. "You are all so brave for being so young. You're heroes to us all, don't forget that."

"Thank you, we won't," said Sora. The pair waved to the cashier as they exited the store. Suddenly, a dagger flew between them and burrowed its blade into the metal divider between the two front doors. Sora and T.K. dropped their bags in surprise, but their digimon didn't hesitate for a minute.

"Patamon digivolve to…Angemon!"

"Biyomon digivolve to…Birdramon!"

"Erebmon digivolve to…Sangloupmon!"

A human-like digimon landed in front of the two digidestined without a sound. He was dressed in a blue pinstripe suit with a ragged shaman shall over it. A red scarf lay around his neck and a black animal like pelt with red eyes and silver horns rested on his head. His white hair extended to his middle back where a pair of black bat wings protruded. He carried a shotgun-like weapon in his left hand. He fixed his black eyes onto the digidestined.

"Hello, Love and Hope," said the digimon, his voice deep and scratchy (think Spike from Cowboy Bebop. It just came to mind when I saw his picture). He lifted his gun and pointed it at Sora, but before he could say a word, he was attacked.

"Meteor Wing!"

"Sticker Blade!"

The digimon jumped back to avoid the barrage. "What is that?" T.K. asked Gabumon as the other three advanced on their opponent.

"His name is Astamon, a demon digimon from the Dark Area. He uses his gun and knifes to do physical and magical attacks. I'd say Phorcysmon sent him instead of Matt to try and throw us off."

"Hell Fire!" yelled Astamon as he pointed his gun at Angemon. Fire exploded from the weapon and raced toward the angel. Sangloupmon jumped up and rammed his comrade in order to push him form harms way, only to receive the blow himself.

"Sangloupmon!" yelled Sora as her digimon fell through the air. _Let me help you!_ she yelled in her mind, trying her hardest to open their connection. _Let me take some of your pain!_

'No,' his voice was pained yet soft, 'I won't allow you to hurt. You are my Faen and I will protect you from all harm. That is what a family does, they protect each other.'

He hit the ground with a hard thud and just laid there. Sora ran to his side and laid her hands on his side. She could feel his heartbeat as his muscled chest rose and fell. _Please, let me help you,_ she thought as her tears fell on the dark creature. _I've already lost an important person in my life, don't make me lose another._

She could sense him smiling weakly in his mind. 'That is why you are the digidestined of Love. You care so much for others you would even take their pain. Matt knew that, that's why he didn't tell you what he had to do to save you.'

_What do you mean? He did it to save Kari, I had nothing to do with it._

'Sora, there is more to this battle than what you can see or believe is correct.' Sora looked at the digimon in confusion at his words. He began to slowly pull himself to his feet.

"Hand of Faith…Hya!!" Golden light flew from the angel's hand and crashed into the demon digimon, sending him flying.

"Maverick!" Bullets made of dark matter flew from Astamon's gun, causing the same result with Angemon.

"No, I won't let you get hurt again!" yelled Sora as she ran to the wolf and wrapped her arms around his neck. "I won't lose someone else that I love!"

Her digivice began to screech and she lifted it off her waistband. The crest of Love was shining on the screen before it shot a beam of red light at Birdramon. "Birdramon digivolve to…Garudamon."

A glimmer of fear shone in Astamon's face, but it was quickly extinguished, he couldn't let his opponent know he was afraid, but a Chosen digimon at ultimate level meant inevitable deletion and he knew it. All he could do was try to take out one of the digidestined before he died. He would be a martyr for his master and would be reborn a legend.

Astamon lunged at the blonde teen, his gun pointed right at his heart. He heard the attack call from behind him. "Wing Blade!" and the air around him began to increase in temperature.

_I only have one shot at this_, thought Astamon. He was the greatest marksman in Phorcysmon's army, next to Phorcysmon and his daughters, so he took his aim.

BANG!

* * *

:) I love being evil so here is another of my trademark cliffhangers. I wanted to put more into here, but I think this is an excellent place to take a break. R&R please and I will get the next chapter out as soon as I can! 


	15. The Truth Within the Lies

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!

Alright, so after 4 months of waiting for you and wishing I could write for me, the next chapter is ready! I hope it doesn't disappoint anyone, so without further ado, CHAPTER 15

I don't own digimon or the songs in this chapter or else I would worry about how to pay for college.

WARNING: same as always.

* * *

"There are a lot of lies going around...and half of them are true." 

-Winston Churchill

* * *

_I only have one shot at this_, thought Astamon. He was the greatest marksman in Phorcysmon's army, next to Phorcysmon and his daughters, so he took his aim. 

_BANG!_

Astamon was not made for speed and was overcome by the attack as he pulled the trigger. The bullet just grazed the outside of T.K.'s arm, causing a thin trickle of blood to run down. He grabbed it, realizing that it hadn't hurt, just stung.

The flames engulfed the digimon and hoarse yelled could be heard before millions of pieces of data were expelled from the mass. The flames died away and the night was quiet once more as the digimon de-digivolved.

"Erebmon, are you alright?" asked Sora as she ran to her digimon.

'Yes,' he responded, 'I'll be just fine."

"You see, I knew you guys could do it!" came a voice from behind them. They turned to see the cashier running from her store. The window had been shot out but Astamon's last attack and glass lay strewn all over the street and inside the shop. "You defeated that monster with almost no problems, you guys will save us all I just know it!" The woman's hair seemed very messy, as if she had been hiding under the counter during the fight, but her praise made them feel more appreciated. "If you guys wouldn't have been here, my store probably wouldn't be here right now."

They said their goodbye, leaving out the part that the digimon probably wouldn't have attacked if they weren't there. They walked back to the hospital. Sora was surprised that Erebmon had been able to stay awake after the battle, but then again, he didn't use his dark or light powers this time. They pushed open the room door and walked in.

"Ken, you know you're the only one who can understand Izzy's mumbo-jumbo," whined Davis. "You're the only one who can figure out what he means."

"I honestly have no idea, Davis," said Ken with his hand on his chin, obviously thinking hard. "Maybe I can do some research, but I can't promise anything. Izzy and I don't always think on the same wavelength, you know."

"We know you'll try your hardest," said T.K. and Tai's eyes lit up when he saw the food. T.K brought his bag over to Tai and set it on the bed.

"T.K.," gasped Kari, "what happened to your arm?"

"Oh, we just ran into one of Phorcysmon's lackeys," he said finally noticing the large blood spot that was leaking through his coat. _Great, ruined two coats in two days. Mom is going to be happy._

"Is everyone ok?" asked Yolei.

"Yeah," said Gabumon, "T.K. just got a cut, but other than that we're fine."

This seemed to make everyone relax and the sound of Tai ripping through wrappers and gorging himself made everyone break out in giggles. Suddenly, the sound stopped followed by a loud gulp. "What's this garbage?" asked Tai holding up the tabloid.

"I saw the headline and thought I would take a look at it," said T.K. "My mom used to work for that paper and they put the thoughts of the public in there. I just thought we should know what their worried about or what their thinking."

"You know by the headline that it isn't good," said Agumon looking over Tai's shoulder. "Don't you think it would just make us all feel bad?"

T.K told them about the woman in the store and explained that whatever that paper said, they were still the digidestined and they still needed to save these people. "It isn't up to us who deserves to be saved, their just afraid. If we know what is scaring them, maybe we can fix it."

They looked at T.K. in awe and agreement. Slowly, Tai opened the magazine to the right page and hesitated before beginning to read.

* * *

"Digidunces: There's No Way They Can Win 

"Just when we were told that the danger was over, by none other than the digidestined, our world has been infiltrated again. Or did they ever leave? Were we lied to by the ones that are 'protecting' us? Are we even truly being protected?

"The answer lies within one individual. He has fought alongside the digidestined but has also fought against them. He was a boy that many girls would have loved to call their own and bring home to Mom and Dad. The individual that holds our answer is none other than Yamato Ishida. Unfortunately, our answer was stolen from us by evil digimon in order to give the digidestined a fighting chance.

"Or was he?

"I wanted to find out what the people of Tokyo thought and was surprised by the information I received. One man brought a lot of information to my attention. His name will be changed for his protection, so I will call him John. When I asked John about his reaction to the death of this digidestined, he responded with passion.

"'My reaction? Well, at first I was shocked and disgusted. Everyone knew he was a good kid who saved our lives not once, but twice. And he was goin' places. I wouldn't have been surprised if his band went big time in the next few years. But now I'm only disgusted at those kids. You can only grieve someone if their dead.'

"I was confused by this and asked what he meant by his last comment.

"'I mean the kid ain't dead…'"

* * *

"WHAT?!" yelled Yolei. "How can he say that?" 

"Shush and I'll tell you," said Tai, annoyed, before he continued.

* * *

"'I mean the kid ain't dead. I ran into him two days ago during that damned snowstorm, but he was, well, different.' When I asked what he meant by different, he continued. 'Well, when I always saw him before, he was…brighter. His hair was longer but it was gelled. He wore dressier clothes; from what I saw he was respectful. When I saw him the other day, his hair covered his face and he wore black, almost gothic, clothes. But that wasn't the weird part. The kid was wearing a sweatshirt and cargo pants, no coat, and he wasn't shivering! It was 20° out, for goodness sake! And you couldn't see his breath, like he wasn't breathing or if he was, it was cold air coming out. But what really got me were his eyes.' 

"At that point, he seemed to fall into a contemplative state. So I asked him what was wrong with the teen's eyes.

"'Well, he ran into me and kept walking, with his head down. I turned around to give him a piece of my mind and he turned and looked at me. Even though he had his hood up, I could tell it was him. I was shocked and then…his eyes. They were blood red, and I don't mean like a druggie, I mean his eye 'color'. They just seemed to shoot right though me."

"'But are you sure it was Yamato? ' I felt compelled to ask. 'The digidestined said he was dead.'

"John seemed to become very upset at this. 'Of course I'm sure, and I can't believe those kids lied to us, not only about Ishida, but about the monsters, too! The told us we were safe again; that the monsters were back where they came from, but here they are again! How can we trust them when they lie to us?'

"I found that many other individuals had these same feelings and some also claim to have seen Ishida as well. Can we truly trust the digidestined? Is Ishida truly alive? I plan to uncover the answers, so keep your eyes open for my next installment and if anyone has any information, you can contact me via my website."

* * *

They all sat in silence, absorbing the blow that had just struck them. "I can't believe this," said Cody, staring out the window. "How can they say those things about Matt?" 

"It doesn't matter because, unfortunately, they aren't lying," said Gabumon. Erebmon gave him a hard stare before his emotionless stature returned.

"Maybe not," said T.K., "but we know better and that is all that matters. We'll win this fight for him."

There were nods from the others, but no more words were spoken. The silence was only broken by the soft beeps of Izzy's heart monitor and the whoosh of air that traveled through his breathing tube. The digidestened sat there, listening to these things until one by one sleep overtook then, casting them into uneasy, yet needed sleep.

T.K. sat awake and listened to the deafening silence long after the group had fallen asleep. His mind raced with thought. What if they were never able to find out what Izzy knew? What if what he found was wrong? Now that he knew there was a possibility to bring him back, he didn't know if he could stand losing that hope. It would be like losing Matt all over again.

He heard Sora shift in her sleep where she lay beside him. "Matt, don't go," she whispered. "Don't leave me here all alone." Her breath shuddered and a single tear slid down cheek onto the white sheets of the hospital bed.

Another tear began to fall. T.K. looked across the room and saw Erebmon staring at him with crimson eyes. He gave T.K. a friendly, approving nod and he gently wiped it away. He wondered if he was visiting her again or if it was just a nightmare, nonetheless, he made a promise to protect her for Matt until he took the job back. She stirred once more and smiled at T.K.'s touch. "I love you, Matt. You have to come back." T.K. smiled. Matt was so far away and yet she still held that love for him.

He walked to the window and stared at the stars. He imagined that he would feel the same way as Sora did if something happened to Kari. She was his sun, his shining star, the thing that made life worth living. She was the light that pulled him from the darkness, his angel, and he loved her with all his being.

His mother said that it wasn't possible for a boy his age to truly love someone like that, but he and Kari knew differently. They had a special bond, one that Matt didn't even know about, for you see, Kari had showed him the digital spirit world once, an experience that seemed to tie them together.

He closed his eyes and remembered that night. It had been right after Primary Village had been destroyed.

* * *

"_T.K., are you alright?" Kari asked after they arrived at her apartment, finally safe from the cold rain._

"_I'll be alright," he said as he hung his dripping coat on the coat rack, but Kari knew differently. His voice was full of sorrow and she knew him almost as well as she knew herself. She knew it made him depressed when digimon were deleted._

"_They'll be ok, T.K.," she reassured him. "Their data will be reconfigured and they will be born again as soon as we rebuild Primary Village. It will all turn out alright."_

"_And what about until then, huh?" snapped T.K., his face full of anger. Kari stepped back and a look of shame appeared on the boy's face. "I'm sorry, Kari. It's just, what will happen if we can't fix the village? Where will the data go?"_

_Kari knew what would happen; she had seen it for herself. _So, maybe it's time I share that with someone,_ she thought. She pulled him to the center of the living room and faced him. "T.K., take my hands," she said reaching slightly forward with her hands palms down._

"_What?"_

"_I said, take my hands. I want to show you something."_

_T.K. hesitantly reached forward and entwined his hands around hers. He loved the feel of her soft hands on his; he only wished they could hold hands more often. "Ok, now close your eyes and whatever you do, don't let go of me."_

_They both closed their eyes and a strange sensation came over T.K. His body suddenly felt lighter and his eyelids filled with bright colors of white, pink, purple and blue. He wanted to open them, but he didn't dare. Kari's voice before had warned him not to try and break this connection. _

_Suddenly, he felt his feet touch something solid, but soft. "Ok," whispered Kari in his ear, "open your eyes." He obeyed and his knees almost gave out at the sight. It was like nothing he had ever seen before. The vast sky was the clearest blue with white fluffy clouds and the ground was covered in knee-high grass and bluebells. The trees were full of different fruit, but most amazing of all was the vast number of digimon bounding around in play._

"_Kari," said T.K. in awe, "where are we?"_

_She placed her hand in his to steady him and give him support as he swayed from shock. "T.K.," she said, her voice soft, "This is the digital spirit world. This is where the digimon go while they wait to be reborn."_

"_You mean…"_

"_Yeah, if we can't save Primary Village, this is where the digimon will stay. Normally, they wait until this place has removed all viruses from their data. That way digimon like Devimon and Myotismon can't be reborn as quickly and hopefully won't be evil when they return. Unfortunately it doesn't always work and they make it back, but it's rare. Anyway, they are happy here. They can't get hurt and they're friends. This is their heaven."_

"_So, what removes the viruses?" he asked, unable to take his eyes from the glee filled creatures._

"_The digital spirits; the ones that I can talk to. I wanted you to see this." She looked at him and smiled. "I wanted you to know firsthand that the digimon will be ok, no matter what happens. However, we still need to save their world."_

_The two watched the digimon play for a while. They seemed so happy, so carefree and T.K felt the darkness he had been feeling melt away in the warm sun._

"_T.K.," said Kari, "we need to go."_

"_Can we come back?"_

_Kari shook her head. "I can't even come here that often, let alone bring another with me. Once we leave, you can never come back, but I wanted to share this with you."_

_T.K. stared at the ground for a while before responding. "Alright." He took her hands again and closed his eyes. He felt the warmth and sunlight disappear and soon they were back in Kari's living room with the rain softly tapping on the window.

* * *

_

He returned his thoughts to the present and smiled. Right after that, he had felt closer to Kari than ever and asked her to dinner the next day. That experience brought them closer together and, Kari believed, had tied their souls together.

* * *

T.K suddenly realized how tired he was. He went and lay down on an empty bed, and before he knew it, he was overtaken by sleep.

* * *

The next day passed much too quickly for Sora. Tai was released in the late morning just after the group was woken. They were still very tired from their late night, but thought it was best to get Tai home before meeting Yutaka, Akira, and Takashi to prepare for the concert. 

Sora was understandably shaken; she was going to sing her song tonight and she was scared out of her mind. She remembered a night a few months ago when Matt finally convinced her to sing to him. He had told her she had a beautiful voice and asked if she would like to sing with him once or twice. She had said no due to her immense stage fright, and Matt respectfully didn't pursue it. This thought gave her confidence as the beginning of the concert drew near.

The digidestined took their seats in the front row and talked for a while before the concert was to begin. "Ken, are you sure you can't stay?" asked Yolei.

"I want to, Yolei, but I want to check out Izzy's room," he responded. "If there are any clues as to what he found, they will be there and I want to find them as soon as possible. Let me know how it goes."

"Alright, happy hunting," said T.K.

Ken snuck out as the lights began to dim and Yutaka took the role as lead vocal. The band sung one of Matt's favorite songs, Higher (Creed). After that he made a short speech.

"Welcome everyone, and thank you for coming. We are here tonight to remember a great man, Yamato Ishida. Now we all know he changed near the end, but I believe that he did the things he did to protect us from grief. For all of you that were at our last concert, you probably remember his weird speech and it all seems to make sense now. 'You guys don't have to tell me, I know I am a total ass, and though she doesn't know it now, I did do it for her. It won't make sense now, and I don't want it to, but maybe one day she will understand. But for right now, I am an ass, and that is the way it needs to be.' He was protecting us. So here's to you, Matt Ishida. A good son, a dependable brother, and the best damn friend a guy could ask for."

This was met by cheers from the crowd as the band continued the concert. They played more of Matt's favorite songs, including Your Guardian Angel (Red Jumpsuit Apparatus) as a tribute to him.

Finally, it had come to the part that Sora was dreading the most. "We would like to thank you all for coming out tonight," said Akira, "but before we play our final song, we have a very special surprise. Sora," he said turning in her direction, "are you ready?"

Sora nodded and walked up to the stage. Takashi and Yutaka helped her onto the stage where she stood in the spotlight. She had chosen a very special outfit for the night. Her hair was down, just the way Matt liked it, and she was wearing an emerald green dress that reached to the floor. Long, angel wing sleeves covered her arms as she took the microphone.

"Hello, everyone," she said, her voice soft and kind. "Thank you all for coming tonight. It would have meant a lot to Matt to know that all of these people still care for him, and like Yutaka said earlier, he may have changed near the end, but he was the kindest person you could ever hope to meet. So let's remember Matt the way he deserves to be remembered, that guy that would always stop to say hello, or to help you if you needed it no matter what he needed to do."

She gave a nod to Takashi and there was a soft, momentary sound of violins that whispered from the speakers before he began to play a simple melody on the piano. Sora could feel her heart pumping as she looked out into the crowd and realized that she couldn't see anyone except for the front, center row where she always sat. She laughed to herself when she realized that is why he was so insistent that the group sat there, he wanted to be able to see them. The smiles on her friends' faces gave her newfound strength and she took a deep breath and sang as Yutaka began to play his acoustic.

_I always needed time on my own  
I never thought I'd need you there when I cry  
And the days feel like years when I'm alone  
And the bed where you lie  
is made up on your side  
_

She closed her eyes and thought of that day in the rain. The memories brought up so many emotions. I don't think I can do this, thought Sora.

'Then let me help you,' replied Erebmon. Sora felt his strength and confidence flow through their connection, and she placed her emotions into her music.

_When you walk away  
I count the steps that you take  
Do you see how much I need you right now?  
_

The music intensified and she grabbed the mic stand.

_When you're gone  
The pieces of my heart are missing you  
When you're gone  
The face I came to know is missing too  
When you're gone  
All the words I need to hear to always get me through the day  
And make it OK  
I miss you  
_

The music softened again, back to the acoustic and piano. She grabbed the mic stand with both hands to steady her weakening knees, and continued on.

_  
I've never felt this way before  
Everything that I do  
Reminds me of you  
And the clothes you left  
they lie on __the floor  
And they smell just like you  
I love the things that you do _

When you walk away  
I count the steps that you take  
Do you see how much I need you right now?

When you're gone  
The pieces of my heart are missing you  
When you're gone  
The face I came to know is missing too  
And when you're gone  
The words I need to hear to always get me through the day  
And make it OK  
I miss you

We were made for each other  
Out here forever  
I know we were  
Yeah Yeah 

She couldn't help it anymore; the tears began to run from her eyes. She missed him so much and she wanted the world to share in her pain; she didn't want to do it alone anymore. She was so afraid that they weren't going to be able to save Matt; that she would have to live without him forever. She found that she was singing louder than she thought she could without losing any of the beauty of the song.

_  
All I ever wanted was for you to know  
Everything I do I give my heart and soul  
I can hardly breathe, I need to feel you here with me  
Yeah _

When you_'re gone  
The pieces of my heart are missing you  
When you're gone  
The face I came to know is missing too  
When you're gone  
The words I need to hear will always get me through the day  
And make it OK  
I miss you_

The music slowed and softened until there was nothing but a memory of the confession of love hanging in the air. Sora wiped the small remains of her tears from her eyes as the crowd uproared in applause. Yutaka, Takashi, and Akira came and gave her a hug.

"He would have loved it, Sora," Akira whispered into her ear as he hugged her. "It was absolutely beautiful." He turned her back toward the audience and motioned to Sora and the cheers got even louder. She bowed, her eyes overflowing with tears, and Erebmon giving her praise for her achievement. The cheers continued until Takashi began to play the piano again, and Yutaka approached the mic and began to sing.

_I will remember you  
Will you remember me?  
Don't let your life pass you by  
Weep not for the memories_

The cheers were loud but short lived as all the onlookers in the audience took out their cell phones to act as mock lighters, swaying in sync to one another as Yutaka continued.

_I'm so tired but I can't sleep  
Standin' on the edge of something much too deep  
It's funny how we feel so much but we cannot say a word  
We are screaming inside, but we can't be heard_

It was obvious that Yutaka was singing from Matt's point of view and Takashi took over for the refrain.

_I will remember you  
Will you remember me?  
Don't let your life pass you by  
Weep not for the memories_

Yutaka and Takashi then shared a duet between their guitar and piano before they quieted and Akira gave a nod to Sora. She nodded back; she knew what they wanted her to do. So she sang the next verse.

_I'm so afraid to love you, but more afraid to loose  
Clinging to a past that doesn't let me choose  
Once there was a darkness, deep and endless night  
You gave me everything you had, oh you gave me light_

The cheers roared again as Akira finished the ode to Matt and his memory.

_I will remember you  
Will you remember me?  
Don't let your life pass you by  
Weep not for the memories_

As the music faded, the lights faded to black. There was to be no encore, no autograph signings; this concert was simply for Matt and nothing else.

The group met up with the digidestined backstage. "Sora," cried Kari with a smile, "that was beautiful!"

"That was a wonderful concert, you guys," said Mimi.

They continued talking until they were interrupted by yelling by the stage entrance. "Let me in! I'm with them!"

Yutaka and Sora looked toward the entrance to see a very winded and obviously cold Ken fighting with the security guards.

"Sorry, kid. No one gets back here without a backstage pass," said the guard.

"Please, I need to see them!"

"It's ok, Charlie, he can come back," said Yutaka as the others joined them.

Charlie let go of Ken and he stumbled forward. "Guys," he said, still breathless, "I…there…something…"

"Whoa, Ken, slow down," said T.K. as Erebmon joined the group. "Did you run here?"

Ken took a few deep breaths and seemed to calm his breathing, but not his excitement. "I ran here from Izzy's. I remembered that a short while ago, he told me that if something happened to him I was supposed to search his bookshelf for a hollowed book!"

Ken was yelling in excitement. "Ken, you're not making any sense," said Davis. "What are you trying to say?"

"Guys, he left us a clue!" he shouted as he lifted us a small piece of paper that simply said…

'Find _Si Jharn os Pondrorar Mosor_- 694'

* * *

Yay! I hope it was ok, I haven't written in such a long time! I had to reread my own story to make sure there was continuity. Isn't that lame?! BTW, the two songs are "When You're Gone" by Avril Lavine and "I Will Remember You" by Sarah McLaughlin. 

Anywho, if anyone is bored, just try to find what Izzy's note says. If you think you found it, MESSAGE me and I will tell you if you are right. If you figure it out, I will answer any one question you have about the story. I know that's lame, but it's all I have. Otherwise, it is just something to do if you're bored. Happy hunting!!!!

Once again, rate, review, and tell me if anything is wrong in the story. I love to hear from you all and hope I am keeping up to your expectations!


	16. Miracles and Misfortune

SUMMER mean time to write. I am now writing five...count them...FIVE stories at the same time! I know you have all waited a long time for me to update and this probably will not be worth the wait, but I had to reread MY OWN story to remember what was going on! How lame was that! It took me three hours to figure out what the last line of chapter 15 meant. (Hahahaha!) I have to get back into the swing of things so be patient, please.

Well, here we go again. Ladies and Gents, reintroducing _**My Protector, My Guardian**_!

Disclaimer: I wish I owned digimon...but no luck.

Warnings: If you don't get it by now...

* * *

"A miracle is an event which creates faith. That is the purpose and nature of miracles. Frauds deceive. An event which creates faith does not deceive: therefore it is not a fraud, but a miracle."

-George Bernard Shaw

* * *

"What does that mean?" asked Davis. All of the digidestined stared at the strange words written on the slip of paper.

"I'm not really sure," said Ken. He looked at the paper with confusion. "It might be a code that Izzy created to write himself messages…"

"Well if that's the case, we'll never figure it out," said Joe in a sad tone.

"No," said Tai, "we _can_ figure it out; we just have to think like Izzy!" This brought a sigh from Davis, Mimi, and Yolei.

"I could do some more research in his room, but the police took a lot of his things," said Ken.

"The code must be on his computer!" said Mimi. "That's gotta be the reason why Phorcysmon took it!"

"Alright gang," said Davis, taking the paper from Ken and holding it in the air like some sort of treasure map, "we'll just find Phorcysmon, kick his butt, and …hey!" yelled Davis as Erebmon pulled the paper out of his hand.

"Erebmon, what are you…," started Sora.

'If it was a code, why are there numbers?' he interrupted.

_It could mean anything. Maybe he substituted some letters for numbers._

'Then why aren't there numbers in the other words? It looks more like he's writing down a book with a page number.'

Realization dawned on Sora's face and she started to smile. This didn't go unnoticed by the others. "What is it?" asked Kari.

"It's a book with a page number," she said, the smile on her face growing larger.

"But then the title is in another language," said Ken, "and it's definitely one I've never seen before."

"Hey, we'll just go one step at a time," said Yolei. "Miracles like this don't come in threes you know!"

"Threes?" asked Davis.

"Yeah, one," she said lifting up one finger to make her point, "Ken found the hint hidden in a book, and two," she lifted another finger, "We now know it is a book with a page number. To ask to know what language it's in would be like asking for a third miracle; that just can't happen in one day."

'Well, then add a fourth miracle as well because we just got three,' said Erabmon. Sora's heart rate increased as she waited for Erabmon to speak to her again. 'Si Jharn os Pondrorar Mosor,' he said in a lax tongue, giving the words a peaceful, almost romantic sound to them, 'is from an ancient digital language. I can read and say the words correctly, but I will be no help in figuring out its meaning or knowing anyone who can."

Sora ran over to her digimon and enveloped the creature in a strong embrace. "Gisir, you already did! You're the greatest!" Sora could sense a feeling of gratitude toward her coming through her connection with her strange digimon.

It was then that she noticed Yokomon jumping around in glee cheering, "Yay, yay, Erebmon!"

"Gi-what?" Mimi asked her friend with a weird expression of complete confusion.

"Erebmon just pulled out a third miracle! That's a miracle in itself!" She yelled along with he digimon.

"What did he say?" asked T.K. anxiously.

Sora was out of breath, and she and Yokomon could only laugh from excitement. Tai wanted to know what Erebmon had said and was starting to get irritated that Sora was laughing instead of telling them. They had to get Matt back, they didn't have time to waste! He was about to yell at her to get a hold of herself when she spoke.

"Erebmon," she managed to get out, "stop it!"

The others looked toward the dark digimon and were amused by what they saw. The usually expressionless being's eyes were aglow with happiness and squinted as if in deep laughter. Tai couldn't help it. He felt his frustration melt away, and before he know it, he was laughing along with his friend. T.K. began to laugh as well, and before long, the whole group was laughing hysterically and none of them knew why.

"Erebmon!" she laughed again, and this time she seemed to have an effect on him. He gained control of himself, and Sora and Yokomon ceased their laughing fit, soon followed by the others.

Sora took a moment to regain her breath before addressing her friends. "He said that the title is in an ancient digital language. He can't translate it and doesn't know anyone who can, but…"

"I do!" yelled Gatomon to everyone's amazement, including her own.

"You do?" asked Gabumon, his voice filled with excitement, gratitude, and hope.

"Well, I know someone who knows someone who does," she said. Small giggles could be heard coming from Kari who was looking at Davis. He was obviously trying to understand what Gatoman had just said, using his finger to show himself the way to understanding. "Wizardmon!"

"But I thought Wizardmon, well, you know…" said Joe quietly.

"He was reborn and luckily, still remembers me," said Gatomon. "Not something that happens very often. Anyway, I met up with him in the digital world. He told me he worked at a library with an ancient digimon that still spoke the old tongue."

"So let's go meet him!" yelled Davis. "Maybe the book Izzy was talking about is in that library! What do we have to lose?"

"Just your lives, my dear," came a woman's sweet, yet venomous voice. The digidestined turned only to come face to face with a beautiful, yet evil looking digimon.

She was dressed similar to a geisha with a shoulderless kimono. The body of her purple kimono was held up by a revealing, black bust corset and belts that crossed on her stomach. The hem of her kimono was decorated with gold rings and she wore tight, armored black pants with toeless shoes which showed her long purple toenails. Her arms were covered from her bicep down by the long sleeves of her purple kimono. Her left hand appeared normal with long, purple nails while her right was distorted, almost looking like a long bird's foot, and was covered with golden armor plates. A stiff black ribbon wrapped around her shoulders and bent widely around her waist. Her jet black hair was pulled up into an ornate golden hair piece that protruded from her hair like devil horns. Two pins with wings held the front of her hair in place and the rest fell behind her, twisted into strands that ended in sharp spears. Torn wings protruded from her back and her forehead was decorated with black jeweled bat wings. Her lips were painted deep purple, matching her eye shadow. A faint smell of death and decay surrounded her.

"Who are you?" yelled Akira.

"I should ask you the same thing," she said. "You aren't a digidestined, but it will be fun to kill you anyway."

T.K. saw the terror rise in his eyes, as it did with Yutaka and Takashi, before hearing screams come from the stage area. "Guys, get out of here!" he yelled just before the curtain was ripped down by two large dragon digimon. The digidestined saw the fans that had attended the concert running in every direction to escape being crushed by the large digimon.

The first was black with two pairs of red leathery wings, sharp iron spears at each point. A silver helmet with a large horn on the nose adorned his head and his seven red tails wrapped around another iron tail that ended in a silver, torch-like spiral. Silver spikes decorated his shoulders and neck.

The second was exactly the same as the first in physical appearance, minus the helmet, but differed in color. His wings were made of silver blades and his body was red with black, jagged stripes. His feet and underside were white. Gold spears were at each point ion his wings and his tail looked like several tails coming together to a single gold spearhead. On his nose was a jagged, silver horn.

The band members and their crew took off for the exit while the digidestined stood their ground. Erebmon handed the piece of paper back to Ken and returned to the front line. The screech of digivices filled the air before all of the chosen digimon, minus Gabumon, digivolved to their champion forms.

"What are those?" asked Cody pointing to the dragons in front of them.

"The black one is called DexDoruGreymon, and undead virus digimon, and the red one is DoruGreymon, a dragon beast digimon," said Gabumon. "They both have foul dispositions and will attack anything if given the chance."

"And the other?" asked Sora.

'Lilithmon,' said Sangloupmon, 'one of the four remaining Seven Great Demon Lords. This could mean trouble, she's a mega, and if megas are under Phorcysmon's control…'

"…we're in for one heck of a battle," she finished out loud. She relayed the information to her fellow digidestined as their digimon fought the dragons.

"Metal Meteor!" yelled the two dragon digimon and two metal balls ten times their size appeared and flew toward the chosen digimon. They were barely able to dodge the massive pieces of metal before they crashed through the side of the tent.

The group of teens could hear Lilithmon laughing from the sidelines as Ikakumon was hit by one of the metal balls and was forced back to his in-training form. 'Sora, we're in trouble here!'

_What can I do?_

'Look out!' he yelled in her mind, causing her to wince in pain.

He shot a picture into her mind and she turned just in time to see Lilithmon lunging at the digidestined. "Ken, look out!" she yelled, but it was too late for him to react. Lilithmon caught him around the neck with a slender, yet extremely strong right hand, and slammed him against a nearby wall.

"Ken!' yelled Stingmon as he raced to his digidestined's aid. He was quickly followed by Sangloupmon.

Ken felt her grasp tightening around his restricted airway. His lungs started to burn from lack of oxygen as the corners of his vision began to turn black. "Give me the paper, boy, and I won't kill you," said Lilithmon seductively.

"N…no," he choked out, clutching the paper tighter in his hand.

The others felt completely helpless. They knew they couldn't approach her without threatening Ken's life as well as their own. It was up to Stingmon and Sangloupmon to save him.

The two digimon dove at her, being careful not to hurt Ken anymore than he already was. "Nazar Nail!" yelled Lilithmon as she slashed at Stingmon. He was struck dead on and was thrown to the side. He yelled in agony as a black acid ate away as his chest where she had hit him, before de-digivolving into Minomon, laying unconscious on the cement floor.

"Mi…no…mon," gasped Ken. It was getting harder to breath and his vision was getting darker and darker.

"The paper, Kindness," she repeated, but with more venom in her voice than before.

Sangloupmon quickly followed with his own attack. "Phantom Pain!" she yelled and as a black haze surrounded him. He yelped like an injured wolf.

"Now, boy! The paper!" she screamed at Ken, her voice so wicked it could have brought Myotismon to his knees in fear, as she pushed him harder against the wall.

"Over…dead bo…," he squeaked out, his mouth outlining the familiar phrase but his lungs only able to support it.

"I thought you would never ask," she whispered sweetly into his ear. "Nazar Nails!" she called and her decaying right hand was surrounded by the same black acid that she had used on Stingmon. "Last chance…"

Ken looked at her defiantly, but his heart was racing in fear. 'No' he mouthed, unable to speak.

"Ok," she said. "It's your funeral."

She placed her hand on his chest and a pain like he had never felt before erupted and spread through his veins like wildfire. He tried to scream, but she had tightened her grip even more. His vision was almost completely gone when she removed her hand, ending _that_ agony only to place it on the small of his back and repeat the process. It wasn't long before his eyes closed and his body went limp.

"Ken!" screamed Yolei as she tried to run to him, but was held back by Davis and Tai. She couldn't go to him, not yet.

Lilithmon removed her hand and dropped Ken unceremoniously to the ground. She went to his still clenched hand and stepped on his wrist, causing it to open and expose the paper to the evil witch. She bent over and picked it up lightly with her long nails and after looking at it, began to laugh, exposing her long sharp teeth. She flexed her ragged wings and flew to the back of DoruGreymon.

Sora looked back at Sangloupmon as she could feel it coming. The black haze cursed his body and threw off his delicate balance of light and darkness. She could tell he was putting all of his energy into closing their connection rather than getting out of the attack, but he was slowly failing as his strength dissipated and light shot out of his body.

"Gisir" she yelled, "don't worry about me! Use your strength to get out; to hold onto your light!" Some of the other digidestined looked at her quizzically, while others ran to Ken.

'No!' he yelled in pain. Sora could feel his control deteriorating and a dull ache started to pass through.

"Sangloupmon, please!"

'No, Sora!' he yelled, trying to hide his agony. 'I will always protect you!'

And with that, he was unable to keep control and their connection ripped wide open. Wave upon wave of agonizing pain flew into her mind, and ultimately through her body. She screamed and fell to the floor and Birdramon fell from the sky with a wail.

Tai saw Sora fall and ran to her side, pulling her writhing form onto his lap. _Not her, too!_ he screamed in his head. "Sora, listen to me, it will be ok," he cooed.

Just as suddenly as her fit had started, it ended. Her eyes opened in amazement as she looked around. Her head quickly shot to where Sangloupmon had fallen and saw him slowly rising from the floor with shaking paws. 'No one hurts my Faen,' he said in a deep voice.

A howl filled the air as he pushed the darkness that had surrounded his body toward its original owner. Lilithmon lazily deflected the attack and stared at the wolf digimon. "How about it, fella, you got anymore tricks up your sleeve for me?"

'Just one,' he said in Sora's mind, letting out a deep growl as an answer to the demon. Suddenly, he let out a wolfish bark and shattered into a thousand digital pieces.

"Sangloupmon!!"

* * *

Tee hee hee. Reviews make the writer move faster...now that she has time...

P.S. I will most likely be updating some formating on my chapters, but nothing new. If there are changes made to this chapter plot-wise, I will put a note in the beginning of chapter 17. I say this because I didn't review it as much as I normally do and I want to make sure my details are correct!


	17. Will I See You Again?

Oh my gosh, I am so sorry this took so long for me to post. I have been arguing with my muse over this story. I hope I don't disappoint! Thank you for your reviews and I will try to work on this story more often. Thank you to those who waited for me to continue, I appreciate it!

* * *

"And if that day comes  
I know we could win  
I wonder if I'll ever see you again"

-Lenny Kravitz

* * *

"Sangloupmon!!" screamed Sora as she watched the pieces of data that used to be her digimon dissipate into the air. The others could only stare at where the wolf digimon had disappeared from. Even Lilithmon was staring in awe.

"You see," she giggled, "even your pathetic digimon are giving up. He knew it was of no use to fight, so he deleted himself. So much for the nobility of the chosen digimon. Destroy the rest," she hissed to the dragons and they began to advance on the remaining chosen digimon.

_No, where did you go!_ Sora screamed angrily in her mind, not knowing if she was going to get a response. Tears began to well in her eyes. _We can't lose anyone else!_

"We can't mope, we gotta move!" yelled Tai as he pulled Sora to her feet and retreated back to the other digidestined. "Go get them, guys!"

"You can't win, digidestined," yelled Lilithmon, cackling loudly, but her laughter was cut short.

Wind started to blow from every direction throwing dust into the air and causing the dragons to cease their advance. Yolei and Joe leaned over Ken to protect his open wounds from the dirt in the air while the others protected their faces with their hands. Multiple small balls of light began to collect in the center of the battlefield as the dust began to compress around it.

"What's going on?!" yelled T.K. over the windstorm.

"I don't know!" Cody yelled back.

Suddenly, the wind stopped and the dirt fell back to the ground, but a large mass of black dust stayed floating around a large ball of pure white light, like stars around a sun.

"You don't think…" started Mimi.

There was a flash of white light followed by a familiar voice. "Sangloupmon digivole to…Reppamon!"

When the light disappeared, a dog-sized fox digimon stood where the ball of light had been. It was white with a white and red fox kabuki mask on its face and a mane of white fur surrounding it. A rope of white and red thread was tied around its neck and a light blue, wispy torn scarf floated on each side of its head. Each of its brown paws was adorned with small silver claws and on its hid quarter was the taijitu (1). Instead of a tail, it had a large, jagged, curved blade with what appeared to be an eye on each side.

Everyone stared at the strange digimon before them in awe; none having ever seen such a dramatic digivolution. Tai snapped out of his trance and turned to Lilithmon. "Now we have a fighting chance," he said addressing the others.

Lilithmon's face contorted into an evil sneer. "You think _that_ ultimate digimon will be enough to win this fight!" she yelled with a dark laugh. "Reppamon at the ultimate level don't even attack!" She began to laugh hysterically.

"What is she talking about?" asked Tai to the digimon standing around him. The others were also confused, but more so frightened by the witch's comment.

"There are two digimon with the name Reppamon in the digital world," said Gabumon. "They look the same, but one is an ultimate level digimon, which has been seen in a multitude of colors, and the other is a champion, which can only be white. The champion digimon is strong and has several attacks. The ultimate Reppamon is very rare and the few that have been seen have never attacked, even if provoked, so, it is believed it can't."

_Is that true, Reppamon?_

'Yes,' came a soft, yet strong voice.

"He really can't attack," said Sora gravely.

"Oh, great!" yelled Mimi and Yolei. "A digimon that can't fight!"

'My Faen, just because I can't attack doesn't mean that I can't fight,' he said sweetly, a smile passing through their connection. 'You might want to stand back.'

"We need to back up," said Sora.

"Why?" asked Tai.

"I'm not really sure."

The group carefully picked up Ken's unconscious body and moved away from the battle. _Reppamon, why did you have us back up?_

'We're going to need more room to fight,' he said lightheartedly. His head bowed in concentration then suddenly shot up. "Crest Prism!"

Slowly, the ground began to shake, gradually increasing until the digidestined almost lost their footing. "Is it an earthquake?!" yelled Joe.

"I don't think so," said Cody.

The ground in front of Reppamon began to rise causing the dragon digimon to rear. Yolei held Ken tightly in her arms, careful not to injure her crush further but also protect him from whatever what about to happen. The ground finally cracked and a large crystalline prism towered before the fox digimon. He backed up a short ways before charging headfirst into the large crystal.

Everyone was taken aback as Reppamon jumped into the large gem. Light shot in all direction causing digidestined and digimon alike to shield their eyes. When the light finally disappeared, not one, but nine Reppamon of different colors, red, blue, pink, white, yellow, green, orange, black, and turquoise, stood before them. Each of them, with the exception of the white and black Reppamon, had the crest that corresponded with the color of their fur decorated their flank in place of the taijitu. The white and black ones had their corresponding side of the taijitu instead of the full one.

"What the…?" said Davis.

"I don't believe it," whispered Mimi.

The white and colored Reppamon turned back toward the digidestined. All at once, they each ran to the digimon that was the owner of the respective crest on their tail. The white one disintegrated causing the digivolution of Garurumon and Ikakumon, and the black one held its ground. The Reppamon leaped at their fellow digimon and seemed to dissolve into them.

Suddenly, digivices started to screech shooting light in all directions and the voices of their digimon filled the air.

"…digivole to…"

"MetalGreymon!"

"WereGarurumon!"

"Garudamon!"

"Lilymon!"

"Zudomon!"

"MagnaAngemon!"

"Angewomon!"

Awe filled the faces of the spectators that had dared to remain and watch the battle. The original digimon in their ultimate forms had not been seen since the battle with Myotismon. People pulled out their cell phones and cameras and began taking pictures.

Lilithmon looked taken aback before she regained her composure and flew off the back of her ride. "What are you two standing around for?" she yelled at the dragon digimon. "Get in there and delete them!"

The two dragon digimon hesitated, looked to one another for reassurance. They might not have been the smartest digimon, but even they knew it would be a long shot for them to defeat seven chosen digimon in their ultimate forms. Nonetheless, they knew there was no way out of this and trudged forward, growling and teeth bared.

"Go show them what you're made of guys!" yelled Tai throwing his fist forward. The digimon attacked all at once destroying DoruGreymon. DexDoruGreymon retaliated with a yell. "Metal Meteor!"

With all the large digimon in the area, none were going to be able to avoid the giant metal ball that was flying at them. "Guys, get out of there!" yelled Cody.

"We can't!" said MetalGreymon.

The metal ball was just about to strike when Reppamon jumped into the air. "Dark Protection!" he yelled and a large, black smoke like barrier momentarily formed before the digimon, stopping the metal ball which crashed to the ground and disintegrated.

Reppamon looked at Sora. 'I'm not completely useless,' he said with a smile in his tone before turning back to the battle. Sora smiled back though he wasn't facing her.

The digimon strategically attacked the remaining dragon and deleted him. Now, the only one left was Lilithmon. She looked at them, enraged by the defeat of her underlings and fury burned in her eyes. "They were only a warm-up," she smirked. She raised her arm. "Nazar Nail!"

The same dark matter that she used on Ken enveloped her arm and she dove at the digimon. One by one, she attacked each of them with sickening speed, forcing many of them back into their in-training forms. As they dedigivolved, a white light shot out of them and took off into the sky.

Lilithmon was laughing while she caused destruction. She turned to WereGarurumon and pointed her regular hand at him. "Phantom Pain!" WereGarurumon howled in pain as he was surrounded by darkness and forced to dedigivolve, however kept enough energy to only change to Gabumon.

The black Reppamon was now the only one standing between the children and Lilithmon. She shot an attack at them, only to have it stopped by his defenses. Lilithmon laughed at the fox-digimon. "How long can you keep this up, puppy?" she asked. "Run out of ideas?"

Reppamon turned to the group of digidestined. 'I have no other choice,' he said almost tiredly. "Spirit Caller!"

A weird, almost flute-like noise filled the air as the wind picked up again. Dirt flew in every direction as the wind speed picked up. Suddenly, a white ball of light shot down from the sky. Sora and Kari gasped as the ball dissappated along with the winds and they looked upon the individual Reppamon called.

"Matt!" cried T.K. as he began to run toward his brother.

"T.K., wait," said Sora sadly, effectively stopping the boy in his tracks. "Reppamon is telling us to stay back. He says Matt doesn't have much time to stay."

T.K. turned to see Matt moving toward the evil digimon who's fear was etched on her face. "You can't be here, you're dead! Phorcysmon said..." She slashed her decayed hand at Matt, but it seemed to go through him, not even making his step falter.

"No, leave me alone!" she yelled as Matt raised his hand, palm toward her.

A white light formed in his hand and shot out at the evil digimon, surrounding her and shielding her from view. Lilithmon screamed in fear, but it soon stopped.

Sora looked at Matt and saw the amount of concentration that he was using on the task. His face was dripping sweat as an almost pained expression painted itself on his face. When the fearful screams ceased, Matt dropped his hand, which also dropped the light shield.

Everyone was amazed by what they saw. The light that Matt had used had not destroyed the evil digimon, but changed her. The digimon that stood before them was no longer Lilithmon, but Ophanimon.

Matt waved his hand and a slit appeared in thin air, through it, the digidstined could see the digital world. Ophanimon took a second to look at the digidestined. "I am sorry," she said before slipping through the portal, it closing behind her.

Matt went over to the wall and fell to the ground in a heap, his spirit too tired to stand any longer. "Matt!" yelled T.K. as he ran forward, closely followed by Sora and the others. He fell to his knees in front of his brother, wanting to hug him but not sure if he can.

The group watched as Matt breathed heavily and sweat poured down his face. He looked up at his friends, his eyes half-shut in exhaustion. He smiled at his friends. "Hey," he said tiredly as a smile graced his lips.

Though he looked like he had just run a marathon, the digidestined would have agreed that Matt looked the greatest he had in a little over a month. His eyes were their regular shade of brilliant blue and he was smiling. He looked content, but there also seemed to be something weighing on his mind. "I'm sorry," he said.

Tears filled T.K.'s eyes and he lurched forward, completely expecting to hit the wall and have his brother start laughing, but to his surprise, he hit a muscled shoulder. His arms wrapped around his brother and he sobbed. He felt Matt wrap his strong arms around him and pull him close, placing his face in T.K.'s hair. "I'm so sorry," he repeated.

The other digidestined just watched the two brothers. Sora so badly wanted to run to Matt, but she knew this time was meant for T.K.. Sora had seen Matt before now, T.K. needed this and who knew how long it would last.

"I can't stay, T.K.," said Matt, his eyes starting to droop.

T.K. lifted his head and looked into Matt's eyes. "We're trying to save you," he said.

"I know," said Matt, his eyes closing completely. There was a bright flash of light that caused the digidestined to shield their eyes, but when they opened them, Matt was gone.

T.K. heard sirens in the distance as he stared at the spot his brother had sat. While the others left to attend to Ken and tell the paramedics what happened when they arrived, he noticed a small piece of paper poking out of the dirt. He picked it up and found that it was the clue that Izzy had left for them. His heart gave a leap remembering that there was still a chance to bring his brother back.

He heard footsteps coming from his side opposite the digidestined. He looked and found himself staring into muddy colored eyes. He felt a wave of paralyzing dread wash over him and froze as she leaned forward and whispered into his ear, "Father says you can't have that." She pulled the paper from his hands and stuck it in her shirt. "He says you can't have him back. He belongs to us now."

Anger welled up in T.K. and he took a swipe at Enyomon with a yell. She easily avoided him, but he was able to catch the attention of the others. "You bitch!" he yelled as she took off into the air and disappeared from sight. "Get back here!" he screamed after her, but he only heard his own echo in return.

Tai came up behind T.K. and turned him around, looking over him in a brotherly manner to make sure he wasn't hurt. "Tai, what are you doing?" asked T.K.

"Standing in," Tai said simply, leaving T.K. confused. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, but she took the paper," he said sadly. "How's Ken?"

"Yolei and Joe went with him to the hospital," said Tai. "They said he's in really bad shape."

"As bad as Izzy?" Tai could only nod.

"T.K.," cried Kari as she ran to him, enveloping him in a hug, "are you ok? We saw Enyomon near you."

"Yeah, I'm fine," he said, turning his gaze to the ground, "but she took the clue from me."

"Well, that's ok," said Mimi, "we already know what it is!" She looked confused for a moment, then continued. "Um, I don't remember, but surely one of us does." She looked around the group, each person with a look of guilt on their face. "No one remembers?!"

A sickening feeling washed over the group as they realized their one lead was gone. Tai looked around the group again, taking in each of their reactions to the news. He really wanted to see how Sora and T.K. were taking it. T.K. had his face buried in Kari's hair, both softly crying and Sora…

"Guys, where's Sora."

* * *

After Matt disappeared, Sora felt as though a little of her own soul had gone with him. She looked around and saw her digimon lying facedown on the ground. She ran to his side and turned him over. That was when she realized she couldn't sense their connection. She searched and searched in her own head, but she just couldn't seem to find his presence in her mind.

Tears formed in her eyes as she stared at her digimon, he couldn't really be gone, could he? He said he had no other choice but to use that attack, but she didn't think it meant he… She couldn't even think it.

She could hear the others fussing over T.K. and that was when she heard it. They had lost he clue, and no one could remember it. Sora dug deep into her own mind, but couldn't recall it either. All she could remember were Erebmon's words.

_It looks more like he's writing down a book with a page number._

She heard the other come up behind her. "Sora," said T.K. frantically, "do you…"

"…remember the clue?" she finished. She looked down at her digimon. "No."

The others looked down at the ground, finally feeling defeated. "I can't seem to find Erebmon in my mind," said Sora dully. "I don't know what is wrong with him."

Kari bent down next to her friend and placed her hand on his chest. Closing her eyes, she seemed to be in deep concentration as she furled her brow. She opened her eyes and looked at Sora. "He's still alive, Sora," she said, causing her friend to audibly sigh in relief. "Have you tried calling him?"

Sora shook her head, she hadn't though of that. Normally she could just sense him. _Erebmon?_ She waited a few moments, but when nothing came she decided to try again. _Erebmon, can you hear me?_

There was a short silence as Sora stared at the digimon lying with his head in her lap. Her heart jumped when she saw his eyes open a bit. His purple eyes shining…wait, _purple_!

His eyes closed and Sora panicked. _Please, Erebmon, talk to me!_

'_Si Jharn os Pondrorar Mosor_ 694,' came his dark voice.

"What?" Sora said aloud.

'_Si Jharn os Pondrorar Mosor_ 694.'

"Erebmon…?"

'_Si Jharn os Pondrorar Mosor_ 694…_Si Jharn os Pondrorar Mosor_ 694…_Si Jharn os Pondrorar Mosor_ 694…_Si Jharn os Pondrorar Mosor_ 694…_Si Jharn os Pondrorar Mosor_ 694.'

"Sora, what's going on?" asked T.K.

"I think he's in some sort of unconscious state, but there is only one thing going through his mind," she said with a slight smile.

"What is it?" asked Cody.

"_Si Jharn os Pondrorar Mosor_ 694," she said, her smile getting larger. "He remembered the clue."

* * *

So, like always, please review! I really want to know what you think. I know this one was a little rusty, but the story needs to continue. Can't wait to hear from you all!!

1- taijitu- yin yang symbol


	18. Terrible Gifts, Wonderful Curses

HEY!!! Long time, no see!! I finally have another chapter done! I know it's short, but I promise the next one will make up for it. I am already halfway done with it. I had planned on putting chapters 18 and 19 together, but I like the break here. So enjoy, review, and remember that the disclaimer and warnings are the same as always!

Star

* * *

"I really feel like the gift is also the curse. It's always half-and-half. Whatever brings you the most joy will also probably bring you the most pain. Always a price to pay. "

**-**Alice Hoffman

* * *

The digidestined sat solemnly as the realization that they were down another group member finally began to sink in. Yolei sat by Ken's bed, softly stroking his uninjured hand. She looked over him, her eyes beginning got tear at the sight.

His only clothing was a pair of seafoam green pajama pants given to him by the hospital. His chest and back were wrapped in white bandages, his right hand was casted to protect his broken wrist, and an oxygen mask was placed over his mouth and nose. An I.V. led into his arm and his heart monitor beeped to a different beat than Izzy's, the sounds creating an eerie song. Like Motimon, Minomon was resting by his digidestined's side.

Sora watched over her digimon as he continued to chant his mantra in his unconscious mind. There were no monitors connected to the twilight digimon, meaning that no one could decipher his condition except Sora.

She stroked the soft fur on Erebmon's cheek and the space between his eyes, watching as his chest rose and fell with the intake and release of air. She could sense that his unconscious chant had gotten stronger over the past few hours and knew that he would wake up soon.

Sora looked over at her two injured friends; Mimi, Joe, and Cody were at Izzy's side whereas Yolei, Tai, Cody, Davis and Kari were by Ken. She couldn't believe this was happening, they were the digidestined. No one was supposed to get hurt. They never had fared so badly before. It was hard to believe they were down two digidestined and their digimon due to injury, and one digidestined due to death. However, Sora was glad that though they had lost much, they had also gained an ally.

Giving his cheek one last stroke, Sora got up from her digimon's bed and moved toward Yolei. She sat down next to her and gave her a sideways hug to console her; she didn't have to imagine what she was going through or thinking about right now. "Yolei, Ken is strong," she said softly. "He _will_ make it through this."

"I know," said Yolei, never taking her teary eyes off the bandaged boy in front of her, "I'm just so afraid. What if he is in pain?"

"They have him on morphine, Yolei," said Sora. "You don't have to worry about the pain. What did the doctor tell you?"

"What you said," she sighed, finally turning her head toward her good friend. "He said that he stable, but he is still in critical condition. He said they put him in a chemically induced coma to ride out the worst of the pain. He will need a skin graft and he will have scarring on his chest and lower back where Lilithmon burned him, but otherwise he will make a full recovery."

"See, he's going to be just fine and you have an excuse to take care of him when he wakes up," said Sora causing her and her friend to smile.

"Yeah, I will," Yolei giggled. "I'm just glad he's ok. I don't know what I would have done if I lost him. I'm not as strong as you are, Sora."

"Yolei," said Sora sadly, "I'm not strong…"

"Don't ever doubt that you are, Sora," whispered Yolei as she once again stared at her crush. "I saw how much it hurt you to see Matt today. I could see it in your eyes how much you wanted to run to him, but you didn't. You let T.K. have that time with Matt. It took strength that I could never have. You love him enough to give his brother some happiness, some closure."

"Yolei, we are going to get him back," said Sora, kindly, yet sternly. Sora could hardly believe it, but Yolei almost sounded as if she didn't believe they could get Matt back.

"But there is always a chance we won't. Please, Sora, I don't want to see you go through all of that pain again." Yolei looked away from her friend in shame as she said the words. "Just prepare yourself in case we fail. This battle is way worse and more against us than ever before. There is a possibility that some things won't go in our favor, but we will try our hardest to make it happen."

"I understand what you mean, Yolei, but I will not give up on him," said Sora.

"I know, and I am not asking you to," said Yolei sadly, "I just want you to prepare for the worst, just in case."

Sora smiled though she was disappointed. "Thanks for looking out for me," she said honestly.

"Likewise," she returned.

Sora looked around the room and spotted T.K. sitting in the farthest, darkest corner with Patamon. She saw her bag lying open on the bed beside him, the journal in his hands as he played with its soft corners. "I'll be right back," she said to Yolei before crossing the ward to T.K.'s side. "Hey," she said softly.

"Hey," he said, his voice raspy.

"How you holding up?" she asked timidly.

"I'll manage," he said, his eyes never leaving the blue book.

"T.K.?" she said, but he still would not look at her. She gently grabbed his chin and made him look at her. Her heart sunk at the sight of his tear stained cheeks and red eyes. "How are you _really_ doing?"

"I got to see him, Sora," he said with a breaking voice. "He was there and then he was taken away again. Worst of all, he said he was sorry, like this whole thing was _his _fault. It wasn't his fault, Sora." T.K. was beginning to speak quickly and frantically. "If I hadn't gotten caught by Phorcysmon, Matt wouldn't have had to make that damn deal. He wouldn't have had to die for me. I always get him in trouble, always making him sacrifice something for me. First it was our mom, then his time, and now his life. It isn't fair! Why can't he think of himself for a change?!"

"T.K., calm down," said Sora gently rubbing circles on his back to stop his hyperventilating. "Matt always did what was best for you because that is what made him happy. If you were happy, he was happy."

"That's not true."

"T.K., you and Matt had always had a strange connection," said Sora. "It was weird, he always seemed to feel bad when you did, even when you weren't with him. He always seemed to know when you were in trouble. He was the first to even think something was wrong when Phorcysmon took you."

T.K.'s hand involuntarily went to his forehead. "Yeah, I can still feel pulse he sent through my head to knock me out," he chuckled.

"Your head?!" Sora said amazed.

"Is that hard to believe?" asked T.K. bewildered.

"No, it's just…the day you were taken, Matt and I were making supper," Sora began. "He suddenly dropped the pans he was holding, told me it was just a headache. I gave him some aspirin, but it bothered him for a while."

"You think it's connected?" asked T.K.

"I don't know," Sora said. The two were quiet for a moment before a soft chuckle from Sora broke the silence.

"What?" he asked.

"You know, I used to wonder if Matt was secretly psychic."

"What?"

"Well, I mean, he always knew how I was feeling, he could finish my sentences, and he always knew what I needed to hear to make me feel better," said Sora, embarrassed from admitting her thoughts. "It was almost like he could read my mind."

"No, he wasn't psychic," said T.K., not even a hint of taunting in his voice, "but he had this uncanny ability to read people. After our parents' divorce, Matt was really wary of people. He was afraid to trust. He didn't tell anyone, but he was afraid to get close to people in case they left him; afraid people would leave him and not see him again, like mom."

"Speaking of your mom, how is she doing?" she asked.

"She…," started T.K., his voice wary as if he were a child about to utter a naughty word. He released a large sigh before trying again. "She doesn't want to worry me or Dad, but she is really depressed over Matt."

"I didn't think she and Matt were that close?"

"He's still her son, Sora," said T.K. with a small chuckle before becoming solemn again. "I've noticed she's been getting down, but when I ask her how she's doing, she just says 'I'm fine' or 'you never know what you have until it's gone.' She's been sitting up at night looking at his pictures and saying how she wished she would have spent more time with him."

"Is she gonna be alright?"

"In time, hopefully," he replied sadly.

"Don't worry, we'll make it through this," said Sora, giving T.K. a hug. "He'll make it through."

T.K. gave her a smile; a genuine, happy smile. "We just gotta have hope."

Sora smiled back at the young man, placing a small kiss on the top of his head.

'Sora…'

Her eyes shot over to the bed at which she started. "Erebmon…" T.K.'s eyes shot over to the bed where the dark digimon lay.

Sora ran to the bed as the dark digimon pushed himself up onto one elbow, holding his head with his other paw. "How are you feeling?" she asked, stroking the fur on his cheek again.

'Like I just got hit by a Trailmon,' he said, a slight smirk in his voice. 'How is everyone else? How is Ken?'

"We all survived, but Ken isn't doing so well," she said quietly as she pointed over to Ken's bed. The digimon's eyes followed her hand to look at Ken in his comatose state. The digimon rose from his bed and started to walk toward the injured boy and Sora watched him go, catching a hint of purple around the digimon's pupil change to red. _Why do his eyes do that?_ she thought.

'Do what?' said Erebmon, turning his focus back on his degidestined.

But before she could answer, Erebmon's attention was attracted by another. T.K. stood beside the digimon, his face and eyes filled with a mixture of emotions. Tears welled in his eyes as hints of anger, sadness, happiness and hesitance flashed in them. Erebmon made no move toward or away from the teen, he merely called for Sora.

'Can you translate for me?' he asked. She nodded as the pair dominated the attention of everyone awake in the room. 'Tell him…I am sorry."

"What?" she exclaimed a bit taken aback. She had expected many things from her digimon, but an apology was not one of them.

'Please, Sora. Just tell him. Tell him I am sorry for calling the one person who could cause him so much pain. I am sorry I had Matt come only to send him away again,' he said sadly. "Tell him I am sorry that I cannot do it again for him.'

_Why can't you call him again?_

'It is a natural law. I can only call a spirit once.'

Sora hesitated, wanting to question further, but she knew the importance of what Erebmon asked her to say. "T.K.," she said, visibly grabbing the boy's attention, but not his eyes as he continued to stare at the digimon in a torrent of emotions, "Erebmon has something he wants me to tell you. He said he is sorry for calling Matt when he knew seeing him would cause you pain and that he would have to send him away from you again. He also says that he is sorry that he can't call him back again for you."

No one moved as the teen continued to bore his eyes into the digimon's. "T.K., if you could hear his voice, you would know that he really is sor…"

She was unable to finish as the young man took a step forward, wrapped his arms around the digimon's chest and buried his head in Erebmon's furry shoulder, tears falling as he embraced the digimon. Erebmon, though hesitant, lightly wrapped his arms around the lithe teen and comforted him silently. The pair stood like that for several minutes, Erebmon looking comfortable in this position despite his aloofness with others. T.K. could be heard mumbling something to the digimon.

Though none of the other digidestined could hear T.K.'s words, Sora heard then clear as day through her mental connection with Erebmon. _'Thank you, Erebmon, for letting me see my brother, even if it was only for a little while. Don't be sorry. That was the greatest gift you could have given me, just below bringing him back permanently.'_

'Sora, something to write with, please.'

Sora grabbed a scrap of paper and a pen from her bag and brought it to the pair. She left to give them as much privacy as possible, given her situation, and watched as her digimon write a message to the boy, his mind telling her what the note said.

'But it gave you so much pain; it was a terrible gift, so terrible that it is a curse that I brought to you.'

T.K. read the note and looked the digimon straight in the eye and smiled. "Then it was the most wonderful curse anyone has ever given me."

All eyes were on T.K. as he walked back to the dark corner and picked up Matt's journal again, commencing the dog-earing of Matt's journal once more. There was silence for some time after that, the only sounds being the steady beeps of Izzy and Ken's monitors and the quick flipping of page corners.

It was Tai that finally broke the silence. "Erebmon, are you feeling able to travel? I think we should get going since those of us that will be journeying to the digital world are awake." His gaze moved to the two digidestined lying on their hospital beds.

'Tell him the faster we move, the more sure we are that we will out maneuver Phorcysmon.'

Sora relayed the message and Tai gave Erebmon a nod. "Alright everybody, time to move out. Gatomon, it's up to you to show us the way."

"Yolei, can you set it so we come in near the forest region?" asked Gatomon.

"No problem," said Yolei, typing a few commands into the computer.

The group assembled around Ken's laptop that his mother had brought the digidestined to help with their mission as Davis lifted his D-3 and yelled, "Digiport open!" There was a flash of light and when it had faded only two digimon and their digidestined remained sleeping in the hospital room.

* * *

"Father, I think you might want to take a look that this," said Enyomon as she bowed before her father among the legion of evil digimon. Phorcysmon waved her forward.

She pulled a piece of paper from the cuff on her boot and handed it to her father. He took the worn note and read its contents, his brow furling. "Where did you get this?"

"I stole it from the digital pests," she said disgusted.

"So, they have found the book," he said with a small smirk. "Enyomon, it looks like we have some extermination to do." Phorcysmon let out a small chuckle as he stood from his throne and walked by his eldest. "Come along, Enyomon."

Enyomon stood from her bowed position, a menacing smile on her lips.

* * *

Please review! Let me know shat you think of the chapter. The next one will hopefully be out sooner rather than later. Sorry this one wasn't too exciting.


	19. Rightest Wrongs and Darkest Lights

"There's nothing "wrong" with anything. 'Wrong' is a relative term, indicating the opposite of that which you call 'right.' Yet, what is 'right'? Can you be truly objective in these matters? Or are 'right' and 'wrong' simply descriptions overlaid on events and circumstances by you, out of your decision about them?"

-**Neale Donald Walsch**

"Wow!" cried Joe. "This is the biggest library I have ever seen!"

The others could only nod in agreement, the library was indeed large. Before the group stood a building that could be described in no other way than a castle. The large stones were of dark, shining marble that reflected the sunlight like a mirror. The walls rose above them at least one hundred feet and the large doors were made of black iron with shining silver hands.

"This is like something right out of my nightmares!" yelled Davis.

"Of course Davis would have nightmares about giant libraries," whispered T.K. to Gabumon who couldn't stifle his giggles.

"How are we supposed to get in?" asked Mimi. "Those doors have to weigh a ton!"

Davis walked forward, spitting on his hands and grabbing the silver handles. He pulled at the door for all he was worth before trying to push them open instead. After a few minutes of struggling, he finally sank to the ground in defeat, panting in exertion. "That…didn't…work," he panted.

"Now what?" asked Tai.

The group sat in thought for a minute. Sora caught Erebmon shaking his head out of the corner of her eye and turned her attention to him. "What?" she asked, a little offended by the digimon's actions.

'Nothing, I just can't believe no one thought of this,' he said, a voice half-filled with humor, half disappointment. He took a few fluid steps to the door, raised his paw, and…knocked. The doors opened on their own, revealing a large, white marble parlor with a set of staircases winding up each side of the circular room leading up to a pair of large, pale wooden doors

"You gotta be kidding me," said Gomamon.

"It makes sense though," said Veemon.

Everyone laughed at the irony of the situation as they walked into the large building. They climbed the stairs and pushed the wooden doors open with ease, exposing an enormous room with shelves of books from floor to ceiling, at least three stories tall. A giant stained glass window, much like one that would be seen in an old cathedral, decorated the front wall, casting different colors about the room as the light shone through it. There were ladders everywhere that led to platforms, enabling individuals to reach the books on higher levels. Every once and a while, the shelving would be disturbed by another door; either on a platform or on the floor level.

"This place is amazing," said Kari walking over to the shelves, pulling a book from it. "It's beautiful," she said as she traced the strange, silver letters on the blue cover. "I wish I could read this." She opened the book to see more of the flowing letters lining the pages.

"Wizardmon!" Gatomon yelled as she ran toward her friend. She jumped at him and wrapped her paws around his neck.

"Gatomon, it is great to see you," he said, returning the embrace. He looked at the group and a smiled reached his eyes. "And you have brought the digidestined, which means this is not a social call."

"I'm sorry, Wizardmon," said Biyomon. "Things are a little too hectic right now to be making social calls."

"Ah, Phorcysmon," he said nodding, "I understand. So, what is it that brings you here?"

"We hoped that we could speak to your master on a matter of great importance," said Gabumon, stepping into Wizardmon's view.

"Ah, my friend," said Wizardmon as he stepped toward the wolf-like digimon, "the whole Digiworld weeps for your loss and honors your partner. You both have shown such bravery; we commend you both."

"Both?" questioned Gabumon quietly. "What have I done? I didn't even realize anything was wrong until it was too late."

"My friend, your bravery is in your willingness to continue even after your partner is gone," Wizardmon said as he placed a comforting hand on Gabumon's shoulder. "You carry a great pain with you, Gabumon; one which no other digimon can attest to. Digimon have lost digimon friends, digidestined have lost partners, and digimon have been separated from their digidestined for long periods of time, but never has a digimon suffered through the death of their human partner. You are indeed the bravest digimon, with the strongest heart, that I have ever met."

The digimon and digidestined stared at the two creatures before them. Gabumon lifted his eyes to the wizard. "Thank you, my friend."

A smile crossed Wizardmon's eyes once more. "So, what is this matter of great importance?"

"We need to speak to your master, Wizardmon," purred Gatomon. "We have something that we need him to translate."

"Let me see it," he said, outstretching his hand.

"It isn't written," said Yolei. "Only on of us can seem to remember it."

Wizardmon's eyes narrowed. "It's in an ancient language, isn't it?" Gabumon nodded causing Wizardmon to sigh and drop his gaze to the ground. "I'm sorry, I can't help you."

"What?" yelled Davis.

"Why not?" yelled Mimi.

Wizardmon looked sadly at the digidestined and digimon before him. "There is a reason none of you can remember. The ancient language was used during a very dark time in the digital world. Many books and spells were created by evil digimon during this time; telling others how to use the power of the universe for self-interest in evil ways. The spells created could be used to destroy hundreds. So, to prevent the use of these terrible tools, the digital spirits input data into each digimon as they passed into the digital spirit world so the language would be forgotten. Very few still know the ancient language."

"But your master still speaks it, right?" asked Agumon.

"Yes, my master, AncientWisemon, has been around for thousands of years, one of the last known surviving Legendary Warriors. He is the Warrior of Metal. The other Warriors were deleted in the battles of the past, well, except for the Warrior of Light."

"What happened to the Light?" asked Cody.

"He was deleted after weakening himself to save his bother's data," came a voice, wisdom surrounding each echoing word.

The group looked toward one of the doorways at the top of a flight of stairs to see a strange hooded digimon. He was garbed in emerald greed robes and hat with a silver yoke balanced on top. His yellow eyes shone behind a white scarf. Purple feather fans adorned his hands and his robes opened to reveal a body composed of a giant mirror.

Wizardmon bowed deeply as AncientWisemon descended the stairs. "Master," he said he said reverently.

"My good friend," said the ancient creature good-naturedly, "you know that is unnecessary. You may be learning from me, but there is no need for such formalities."

"Yes, master," said Wizardmon as he straightened. Turning toward the group, he began to smile. "My friends, this is my master, AncientWisemon, the Legendary Warrior of Metal."

"The digidestined," said AncientWisemon, "I never thought I would have the honor of meeting you."

"I can't believe it!" yelled Gomamon, "A real Legendary Warrior! This is amazing!"

"Gomamon, settle down," said Joe.

"But…but it's a Legendary Warrior, Joe!" said Gomamon. "No one has seen them in over three hundred years!"

A chuckle emitted from the cloaked digimon. "That is because I am the last, young one. As for your question, Cody, I think Wizardmon can answer it for you."

"Me, master?" asked Wizardmon, his eyes large in apprehension.

"My apprentice, you have been studying the legends now for months. Let us see what you have learned."

"Yes, master," said Wizardmon as he turned toward the digidestined. "Thousands of years ago, the digital world was in a state of war between the bestial and humanoid digimon. An angel digimon by the name of Lucimon brought peace to the fighting, but became victim to the pull of power and was taken over by the darkness. He became a cruel dictator, using the dark magic to control the digital world until ten warriors rose to oppose him. They successfully defeated the demon, but not without loss. The Warriors of Water and Wood were deleted during the battle. Afterward, the remaining Warriors were drained of energy and were unable to fight back when they were attacked by the remainder of Lucimon's followers. The Warriors of Earth and Lightning fell during this attack to assure their friends' escape.

"Unfortunately, their troubles did not stop there. Before Lucimon's was deleted, he managed to cast one last spell to bring chaos into the world. Digimon began to idolize the Warriors, and slowly, AcientSphinxmon, the Warrior of Darkness, began to change. The only ones who realized this was happening were AcientGarurumon, Legendary Warrior of Light, and AncientMegatheriumon, Warrior of Ice.

"Then, one terrible night, the spell on AncientSphinxmon finally took hold and took over his mind. He attacked any and all digimon he could find, deleting many. The remaining Legendary Warriors had no choice, they had to fight and defeat their friend. During this hunt, followers of AncientShpinxmon destroyed the Warrior of Wind."

Wizardmon paused and looked at his master sadly before continuing. "There were only three Warriors remaining to fight the Warrior of Darkness, and the outlook appeared grim as he had become excessively powerful. Nonetheless they continued on, determined to stop him. The final battle was described to be a glorious display of power, only stopping when AncientMegatheriumon, AncientSphinxmon's dearest friend, was deleted.

"The act of destroying his best friend broke the spell's hold on AncientSphinxmon's mind, but the darkness still held on to him. The digital world called for the Warrior's execution."

"That's so sad," said Yolei. "What happened to him?"

"His execution was carried out right there while AncientGarurumon and I were too weak to intercede," said AncientWisemon. "I have never seen such sorrow as when I observed AncientGarurumon watch his brother's deletion. It was his duty to let it occur, but his heart knew it was wrong, and that sorrow followed him for years."

The digidestined felt their hearts drop. They had hoped for a better ending than that. "But that isn't the end of the story, is it?" asked T.K. "You said AncientGarurumon died saving his brother's data."

"Very good, young one. Very good," said the ancient digimon, his eyes dancing in a smile. "Indeed there is more to the tale. For you see, those who pass while surrounded by darkness are not condemned. Some six hundred years ago, we discovered what happened to the data of our deleted friends. We learned of these strange digi-eggs that had been sitting in Primary Village for over two hundred years. No matter what they did, the caretakers of the village could not get them to hatch. Even stranger was that they had these necklaces wrapped around them with strange symbols on their tags."

"The Crests," said Yolei.

"You are correct," said AncientWisemon. "Each of the seven eggs present was accompanied by a tag and crest. We discovered that when the Legendary Warriors had been deleted, their power had been transformed into the protective crests and their data into digimon which could harness that power. When we arrived, six of those seven eggs hatched, producing digimon with the powers of their respective Warrior. The eggs that hatched carried the crests of Courage, Knowledge, Sincerity, Reliability, Kindness and Love, but no matter what we did, we could not get the final egg to hatch."

"So, our Crests contain the power of the Legendary Warriors?" asked Mimi, receiving a nod from AncientWisemon.

"And that means our digimon…" began Joe.

"Are the reincarnations of my friends," finished AncientWisemon.

"Really," said Tai excitedly. "Do you know which one is who?"

The wise digimon released a soft chuckle. "Is it really that hard to guess?"

"Agumon must be the Warrior of Fire, right?" asked Cody.

"That is correct," said AncientWisemon.

"Then Gomamon must be the Warrior of Water, and Tentomon is the Warrior of Lightning," said Yolei. AncientWisemon nodded once more.

"So then Biyomon is the Warrior of Wind…," said Sora.

"Palmon is the Warrior of Earth…," said Mimi.

"And Wormmon is the Warrior of Wood," finished Kari.

"You are all correct," said the robe-clad digimon, his eyes once again sparkling with a smile.

"But what about Patamon, Gatomon and Gabumon?" asked Palmon.

"Ah, this is where the story becomes interesting," said AncientWisemon. "Somehow, AncientGarurumon was able to make a connection with the digital being inside the remaining egg. It was the data from AncientMegatheriumon. He refused to take form or be reborn until he knew that AncientSphinxmon's data was safe. The digital spirits had told him that they were refusing to reincarnate the Warrior of Darkness for fear that he would be corrupted again.

"So he begged with AncientGarurumon to help him, which of course, the Warrior of Light was only to happy to oblige. To this day, I am not sure how it happened, but AncientGarurumon used his power to attach some AncientSphinxmon's data to AncientMegatheriumon's tag, allowing his physical body to reincarnate in another egg.

"Even stranger still is what happened to AncientGarurumon. Before my very eyes, he was deleted and his data separated into five parts. His power broke itself in two and the data for his mind, body and soul all separated. His mind and half of his power created one egg and crest, and his soul and other half of his power created another set."

"Patamon and Gatomon," said Kari, her yes alight. "Patamon is made from his mind data, giving him great wisdom when he is in his digivolved forms…"

"..and Gatomon is a product of his soul data, helping with Kari's connection with the digital spirit world," finished T.K.

"You are both correct, and because of the fact that you are both part of the whole, you are stronger together than you are apart," said Wizardmon.

"What happened to the data for his body?" asked Gomamon.

"It solidified the connection between the Warriors of Ice and Darkness, creating a digimon with data for two physical forms to accompany the last Crest," said AncientWisemon.

"The Crest of Friendship," stated Tai, receiving a nod from Wizardmon.

"Which means that Gabumon is…made of parts of three digimon?" asked Yolei as she looked at Gabumon, who seemed a little uncomfortable.

"It only makes sense," said Agumon, smiling at his friend. "You're a Garurumon, normally a digimon of light, with the power of ice."

"Yeah, and you seem wiser and more level headed than the rest of us," said Palmon. "We always come to you for advice and you always seem to have the right answer."

"Is…is that why I digivolve differently when…," stammered Gabumon, not wanting to ask his question.

"Because of your inheritance of AncientSphinxmon's data, you have a higher sensitivity to the powers of darkness," said AncientWisemon. "Haven't you noticed you can always tell when it is around? How you tend to be right with your first impressions of people and digimon? How you could tell when Matt was upset even when no one else could? And yes, it is the reason you digivolve differently when you are angered or dark energy was channeled into you by Matt's digivice."

There was another silence as the group remembered their last adventure through the digital world and strange digivolutions Gabumon had undergone. "What happened to the final digi-egg?" asked Gabumon, turning the attention away from him and breaking the eerie silence. "The one with AncientSphinxmon's data?"

"It hatched," said the ancient digimon with a smile in his eyes, "into a rare digimon."

Gomamon's eyes widened in curiosity. "Wow, which one?"

AncientWisemon looked at Sora and her digimon. "An Erebmon."

All eyes were on the twilight digimon, though he looked unphased by the news. "But I thought Gennai said an Erebmon hadn't hatched in over three thousand years," said Gatomon.

"For all he knows, one hasn't," said AncientWisemon. "Gennai is a man that holds grudges easily. When AncientSphinxmon was on his rampage, he attacked the digital research facility where Gennai worked. Gennai was the only survivor."

"And he knew that AncientSphinxmon's power was in Matt's crest. That's why he never trusted Matt," Tai stated more than asked.

"Precisely," said the ancient creature. "We hid _that_ Erebmon from the digital world for his safety. He was one of the rare digimon who remembered his past life and vowed to help the digital spirits rid the world of the powerful magic held within the data of each digimon."

"So, where is he now?" asked Cody.

"He now guards the Dark Area," said Wizardmon, "and decides the fate of a digimon when they are deleted. If they were evil, he sends them to the Dark Area and binds their data to it. If the digimon was good, he sends it to the digital heaven where their data is cleaned before they are turned into a digi-egg.

"Which brings us back to the argument we were having about the ancient language," said Veemon hotly.

"Absolutely not," said Wizardmon. "That story should have explained why we can't tell you."

"We're not asking for dark spells or for you to teach us the language," said T.K. "What I _am_ asking you to do is help me save my brother. Izzy found this and it is the only lead we have."

"We can't," said Wizardmon, standing his ground. "What happened to Matt is terrible, but we can not risk someone finding out anything about the ancient language."

"Why are you being so difficult," yelled Yolei.

"Because I have to be!"

"So you trust us to protect the digital world, but we can't ask for one favor in return!" yelled Davis.

"Not this favor!"

"Everybody calm down!" yelled Tai, but to no avail. Soon the sentences became incoherent as the fight continued.

"I can not believe what I am seeing," said AncientWisemon, catching the attention of the group, effectively quieting them. They looked over to see the ancient digimon speaking to Erebmon, Sora by his side. "You suffered greatly in your past life, my friend."

"Master," said Wizardmon harshly, his body still accelerated by the argument that had just been interrupted, "this is not your friend. This is not AncientSphinxmon's reincarnate. Do not let him fool you into giving him the translation."

"Wizardmon, my apprentice," said the robed creature kindly, "there is still much for you to learn. I know he is not my reincarnated friend, but I have seen what it takes to create an Erebmon first hand, and it is a grave chain of events. In his past life, he was brought down to his lowest low, his darkest night, before fighting within himself to find the light again. Unfortunately, he never completed that fight and is now stuck in twilight. A digimon willing to fight that hard for the light can be trusted."

"But…Master," stammered Wizardmon.

"Your efforts to keep the ancient language safe is admirable, Wizardmon. One day, you will continue to protect its secrets in my stead, but know that there are exceptions. Sometimes something that is wrong, but doing it for the right reasons, is the right thing to do."

Wizardmon contemplated his master's words before giving a slight bow. "Your wisdom amazes me, Master."

AncientWisemon smiled with his eyes at his apprentice before turning back to the pair in front of him. "Now, what was the phrase you needed translated?"

Erebmon looked at Sora and repeated the title to her. "_Si Jharn os Pondrorar Mosor_ 694," she relayed.

"Ah, of course," said the ancient wise man in awe, "_Si Jharn os Pondrorar Mosor_. The Laws of Digital Spirit. It is a book that we hold in this library."

"Really," said Sora. "Would it be too much to ask to see it?"

"Of course not, young one," said AncientWisemon gleefully, "but there is no need for you to find it."

"Why, do you know what the page says?" asked Palmon.

AncientWisemon released a small chuckle. "No, young Palmon, I am not as wise as to remember that, but I believe one of you knows its location. It is a blue leather book with silver letters imprinted on its cover. It is quite the eye catcher. It almost seems to pull readers to it."

Kari looked at the book she held in her hands and smiled. "You mean this one, don't you?" she said.

"It seems as though the spirits guide you, young one," said AncientWisemon as he smiled with his eyes once more. "Please, my dear, open the book to page 694."

Kari carefully opened the ancient book and slowly turned the pages, admiring the mysterious writing that decorated each silky page.

"Earth to Kari," came Davis's voice, snapping Kari out of her admirative trance. "This digital century if you please."

Kari smiled at the group in embarrassment. "Sorry." She quickly turned to the appropriate page and passed the book to the ancient digimon's outstretched hand.

"Ah," cooed the digimon, "S_i Theresi Os Si Sys Myr_, The Future of the Torn Soul. I heard of this during my studies. It is a very ancient prophesy. I met the digimon who professed it; Ophanimon. She told me that this particular prophesy was different than the others she had foreseen. She said this one was an Irresolute Prophesy."

"Wait, a what?" said Yolei. "An Irresolute Prophesy?"

"Irresolute Prophecies, unfortunately, have the possibility of going unfulfilled. They depend on individuals working out puzzles to complete the prophesy before the necessary conditions come about. For example, if the Irresolute Prophesy says that the chosen one must be atop the mountain before the red eclipse has passed, someone must figure out who the chosen one is and what mountain they need to be on before the rare red eclipse occurs."

"So, we might not fulfill the prophesy?" asked T.K. tentatively, afraid of what AncientWisemon's response would be.

"I will not lie to you, young one," said the robed digimon, a sadness enveloping his eyes, "there has yet to be an Irresolute Prophesy fulfilled." T.K. could feel the tears prickling his eyes as he fought them back. He had allowed himself to be too optimistic. "However, do not lose hope, young Barer. If there is anyone who can bring this prophesy to pass, it is the digidestined."

T.K. allowed a smile to adorn his face as Kari wrapped her arm around him. "Don't worry, T.K., we'll make it happen."

He leaned his head forward until his forehead rested on hers. "Yeah, we will."

"Jeez, not in front of the children," yelled Davis as he covered Cody's eyes with a smirk.

"Hey!" yelled the youngest digidestined as he tried to push Davis's hands off of his eyes.

"Not in front of the big brother either," said Tai playfully.

The group let out a collective laugh before their attention was caught by AncientWisemon's voice.

"_Saesi shor shi ei sosti os pasaer_

_Eil si mor shor thar sai ki._

_Si shys shor tali eiloli_

_Eil si vondraer codi saes thali._

"_Sher syl si pas shor moli_

_Ei jhol si moji os ei mas._

_Eil Syl si Jhol shar sajel_

_Baeraes os saes eisi thas_

"_Ber shol si si vas syndraeraes_

_Shia shae os phasmatis via,_

_Eil si jhyr oli tal eiraesti_

_Eiraes si jhol car kyrdaer."_

"That was beautiful," said Mimi in awe. "Was that the prophesy?"

"Yes, it has quite an elegant sound, doesn't it?" said the ancient one as he handed the open book to T.K.

"What does it mean?" he asked as he received the digimon's gift.

"It means, 'There will be a time…"

_CRASH!_

Before AncientWisemon could even finish the first line, the wooden door acting as the main entrance into the library was obliterated by a powerful blast. Splinters of wood and pieces of metal and stone flew toward the group. T.K. jumped in front of Kari to protect her from the oncoming debris only to take a stone to the back, sending him and Kari to the ground.

"T.K.," yelled Joe, "you ok?"

"Yeah, we're ok," T.K. yelled back as the pair pushed themselves up from the floor.

Tai looked over at the door, Agumon in a defensive stance by his side. As the dust began to clear, his eyes widened and his heartbeat quickened; before him stood none other than Phorcysmon and Enyomon.

"Hello, Courage," he said, his voice smooth and venomous. "Here for a little history lesson, are we?"

"Maybe, what are you doing here?" Tai returned.

"It has come to my attention that you are starting to meddle in my affairs," he said coolly. "I think it is time I stop this little game." With those words, Phorcysmon waved his hand over the ground. "Rise, Creature of Darkness!"

At, his command, a pool of dark, oily liquid appeared on the floor, tendrils of darkness lapping at the air. The tendrils rose and twisted around one another, creating an intricate cocoon large enough to hold a digimon the size of a grown man. The digidestined stepped back, preparing themselves for the monstrosity that would emerge.

"Tai, shouldn't we digivolve?" asked Agumon.

Tai continued to stare at the cocoon of darkness warily, and shook his head. "Let's see what we're up against."

The cocoon started to melt, slipping slowly, but cleanly, from the form beneath it. Tai could feel his heartbeat race as he waited for the creature they would be taking on. He had never seen a digimon summoning like this before. The creature became more and more visible as the cocoon continued to slip away before his eyes, until it was finally revealed and Tai's heart skipped a beat.

Before him stood a battered and beaten Yamato Ishida.

His face was covered in small cuts and his hair was spiked everywhere. His white shirt and jean were tattered and torn, hanging from his starved-looking body. His shoulder looked as though it had been dislocated, made more obvious by the angle of the arms that were bound behind his back. He swayed, appearing as though he were fighting to stay upright as blood dripped from his mouth, chin, and a cut above his right eye.

"Tai," he said weakly as he fell to his knees in exhaustion, "help…"

Tai stared in horror at the boy in front of him. He looked so weak, so broken. What had they done to him? Without thinking, Tai started to run toward his best friend. He had to get to him, to help him, to bring him home. He could think of nothing else but freeing Matt and getting him safely back to the group.

He felt a pair of hands grab him and start to pull him back. He struggled against them, trying desperately to get to his friend. He could see Matt bleeding, dying in front of him. He had to save him. He had to!

"Tai, stop," begged a tear-ridden voice, "it isn't real. Please, stop." Tai turned to see Sora, her cheeks already tearstained and her eyes filled with anger, holding onto his arm with a vice-like grip. "It isn't real."

Tai looked back at his blonde friend and saw him struggle to his feet, blood starting to stain the front of his shirt. "Please, Tai," he groaned as he began to stumble toward the group, "he's gonna kill me."

"Tai, don't listen!" yelled Sora.

"Tai, help me…" he cried.

"Tai, leave him!"

"Tai, you're the only one who can help me."

"Tai, listen to me!"

"Tai!" he cried weakly, an arm's length away.

"Tai!"

"Tai!"

"Tai, he's got a…"

The ropes binding Matt's arms disappeared in a mist of darkness and his shoulder popped audibly back into place as he pulled something from the waistband of his pants behind his back. "Gotcha," he said, a smirk on his face and a sickening joy in his voice.

Before anyone could react, Matt lunged the last few remaining feet and swung his arm around, aiming for Tai's head. Tai heard a few people scream and saw a flash of silver as Matt attacked before his vision was obscured by black fur and silver armguards.

Tai gasped in realization of what had just happened. Phorcysmon had called on Matt's body to use against him, and he had fallen for it. He looked to the side and flinched away from the sharp dagger held in Matt's hand, it's point mere centimeters from his temple. Sora pulled him back a step which allowed him to see the whole picture.

Erebmon was holding back Matt's arm, a look of terror on the boy's face.

Erebmon threw Matt's arm back, causing the boy to stumble backward, a look of pure hatred replacing the fear. "You're damn lucky, Kamiya," said Matt's his angry, red eyes focused on the Digidestined of Courage. "Next time, Friendship's guard dog won't be there to protect you."

A harsh growl emanated from the black digimon, pulling the blonde's attention back to him. Erebmon moved between Tai and Matt and stared at the dead boy. Though the two were the same height, Sora could see that Matt slouched, making him have to look slightly up to look the digmon in the eye.

Erebmon took a step forward and surprisingly, Matt took a step back. The twilight digimon continued forward, forcing Matt back, away from the digidestined, until he was standing in the pool of darkness again. "You do not control me," growled Matt, his posture even more crouched as he looked up at the digimon.

'Go,' Sora heard him say calmly. Matt's eyes opened wide as he began to sink into the darkness, and with a yell of frustration, he was gone; turned to mist and evaporated back into the portal of darkness.

Tai stared dumbfounded as the twilight digimon walked back to the group. He stopped in front of Tai and shook his head. "Erebmon," warned Sora, "I know he was lucky you were here, but don't make him feel bad. Phorcysmon knows that is one of the best ways to get to him." The digmon continued staring at the brunette before lifting his paw, slapping the boy on the back of the head with only enough force to convey his message of 'idiot,' before continuing on.

Tai smiled at the gesture and there was a moment of silence before Davis yelled out, "Well so much for that plan, Phorcysmon. Hope you got something better than that up your sleeve!"

A malicious smile found its way onto Phorcysmon's face as he gave a light chuckle. "Oh, I would say it worked fairly well."

Davis heard Veemon audible gulp beside him. "Davis, should we digivolve _now_?" he asked, his voice shaky.

Davis looked around the room and saw what had made Veemon nervous. While they were destracted by Matt's body, at least twenty Evilmon had invaded the library, all snickering wildly. "Yes, Veemon," Davis said calmly. "Yes, we should."

The screeching of digivices filled the room as digimon digivolved to their champion and ultimate forms before a vicious fight ensued, destroying the pristine library. The digidestined ran, attempting to avoid being caught up in the battles and hit falling books.

"Thunder Ball," yelled Wizardmon, throwing his attack at one of the devilish digimon.

Gabumon wished so much that he could digivolve again, just like last time, but it was different. He couldn't seem to sense Matt anywhere. Had he abandoned them.

"Just stay by me, young Gabumon," said AncientWisemon. "He has not forgotten you." Gabumon smiled at the ancient digimon.

"Death Claw!" yelled Phorcysmon as he attacked, knocking three digimon back to their rookie forms.

"Tai, there's too many," yelled Cody as he and Ankylomon were pushed back. "We have to get out of here."

"Not until we get that prophesy," said Tai before having to shield his face from the heat of Greymon's fireball.

"Black Plague!" Another two down.

"Tai!" yelled Cody.

"We finish what we came here to do."

"Maybe I can be of some assistance," said AncientWisemon calmly. Lifting his feather fan hands to the sky, he called, "Elder Sign!" The room seemed to grow dark as he continued his attack. "Azulongmon, god of the Eastern Hemisphere, bless me with your power."

A powerful roar echoed through the library as a flash of lightning stuck AncientWisemon. The darkness cleared and all stared at the ancient digimon in awe. Once more, the digimon lifted his hands to the sky. "Lightning Whip!"

Bolts of lightning shot through the stained glass window, shattering it on impact as they raced toward the unsuspecting Evilmon. With high pitched cries, the Evilmon were deleted, one by one, until there were no more. Once the attack had ended, AncientWisemon sank to the floor, exhausted.

"AncientWisemon, are you alright?" asked Wizardmon as he and Gabumon ran to the old digimon's side.

A small chuckle reverberated from AncientWisemon. "Just fine, Wizardmon. I am just not as young as I used to be."

"Night Terror!" called Enyomon with a laugh as she and her father forced more and more of the chosen digimon to the rookie forms.

"Tai, we need to retreat," yelled Joe. "Ankylomon and Angemon are the only ones left. They can't handle Phorcysmon _and_ Enyomon on their own."

"I know!" yelled Tai. "See if AncientWisemon will go with us. He isn't safe here anyway!"

"Tai!" came a scream. Tai turned around in time to see Phorcysmon diving at Kari.

"Death Claw!" yelled the evil digimon as red and black energy enveloped his outstretched hand.

"Kari, NO!" yelled Tai and T.K. as they rushed to get to her.

"Raijin Dance!" yelled AncientWisemon as he stepped in front of Kari, releasing a blast of electrical energy from the mirror in his chest. The two attacks clashed and Phorcysmon was thrown back across the room as the sound of shattering glass filled space.

"Master, no!" yelled Wizardmon as he ran to his teacher.

Kari dropped to her knees and accessed the damage to the digimon that had just saved her. His purple fans lay on the floor and the yoke on his hat was broken, the pieces strewn over the stone floor. She willed herself to look at the mirror and felt tears in her eyes as not only was the glass destroyed, but the wood support behind it had been broken through as well.

"Master?" questioned Wizardmon as he dropped to his knees.

"Wizardmon," said the last Legendary Warrior in a weak tone, "you are in charge of the library now. Take care of it for me."

"No," said Wizardmon. "You're going to be alright and you can continue to take care of the library. You still have so much to teach me, Master."

"I have taught you all I can, my apprentice," he rasped. "It is now time that you learn about the world through your own eyes."

Erebmon joined the pair and kneeled down next to the ancient digimon. AncientWisemon locked eyes with the twilight digimon and grabbed his armguard. "Promise me you will not let him have my data. With it, he will have the power to destroy the digital world and all that inhabit it." Erebmon nodded, his hand glowing white and his eyes wide with apprehension as he readied his attack.

"Erebmon, no," said Kari pushing back his arm, "you can't."

He looked at the digidestined with irritation as he did not have Sora nearby to relay his words; all he could do was point to Phorcysmon, then himself, and ultimately AncientWisemon. Kari, however, did not understand.

"Darkness Wing!" yelled Enyomon, aiming her attack at the ancient digimon, striking him head on and throwing the other three in different directions.

"Erebmon!" yelled Sora as she held a stunned Biyomon.

Erebmon pushed himself onto his elbows and shook his head to clear his mind. He looked over at the spot where AncientWisemon lay and was shocked to find him slowly deleting. The ancient digimon looked at Erebmon, sorrow and pleading enveloping his eyes.

"Erebmon, please, only you can do it," and with a pained groan, AncientWisemon dissolved into millions of pieces of data.

"Yes," yelled Phorcysmon as he approached the cloud of data, "the knowledge of the ancient language is mine!"

"Guys, we can't let him have that data!" yelled T.K. "Hold him back!"

Sora's mind was suddenly filled with great confusion and reluctance as their digimon charged forward to stop the demon. Information about good and evil, light and dark, right and wrong flashed through her head so quickly she was unable to keep up. Scenes of brutal violence as a punishment flashed through her mind while other images of Phorcysmon ravaging the two worlds copied them. A despair of not knowing what to do took over her, and she fell to the ground from the emotion, though it was not her own.

"Sora!" yelled Tai as he ran to her side. "What…"

"Something's wrong," she said emotionlessly, her eyes distant. "I don't know what to do! What will they think? Will it change me?"

"Sora, what are you talking about?"

"It's wrong. It's so wrong. What will this do to the team…to Sora?"

Tai's head snapped up to the twilight digimon who was standing with his paws gripping the fur on the back of his head as if he were in pain. A crack was heard as the defensive line of digimon was broken by Phorcysmon and Erebmon's attention was caught.

"It's all mine!" yelled Phorcysmon.

"Hand of Faith! Hya!" yelled Angemon as he used the last of his energy to push the digimon away from the data before de-digivolving to Tokomon.

"I'm sorry, I have no choice," said Sora before her eyes refocused and she shook her head. "Tai, what happened?"

Tai's attention, however, was focused on Erebmon. "Erebmon, what are you doing?" he asked quietly.

Suddenly, the twilight digimon crouched on all fours and jumped toward the cloud of data. He landed just below the cloud and grasped the fur on his chest over where his heart should be as if it were causing him great pain. All at once, he threw his arms out to the sides in full span while letting out a loud cry, a sound between the yelp of a fox and a howl of a wolf. He glowed a dark, purplish-black as he began to hover above the ground.

Everyone, including the evil digimon, watched in horror as Erebmon absorbed the data cloud that was once AncientWisemon. As soon as the process was complete, Erebmon dropped to the ground, landing with a hollow _thud_ on his paws and knees. He sat there, gasping for breath as saliva dripped from his mouth.

"Oh my God, Erebmon, what did you do?" Sora asked quietly as she kept her eyes on her digimon. She began to cry as the feelings of guilt and oddly, pleasure, flowed through their connection. The feelings of glee were soon followed by disgust and rage at herself for feeling that way. No, she didn't feel it, Erebmon did. The feelings were so strong that Sora was having trouble distinguishing his feelings from her own. Both sides from the battle watched as Erebmon curled in on himself and released another haunting cry into the air, his face pressed against the stone floor of the library.

"No! NO!" yelled Phorcysmon as he rose to his feet. "That data was mine!" he screamed. He was panicking inside, though it did not show on the outside. He needed to do something. He could NOT let the digidestined win this war, but they had the knowledge of the ancient language. They could now read the prophecy.

_But not if they don't have it,_ he though suddenly, and turned his attention to the blonde-haired boy holding _The Laws of Digital Spirit._ With an evil smirk, Phorcysmon lifted his hand and aimed for the Bearer of Hope.

"Black Plague!" yelled Phorcysmon, releasing a black mist that shot toward T.K. Phocysmon smiled as the attack quickly approached the digidestined.

Suddenly, the ground began to shake, causing T.K. to fall to the ground and the attack to miss. Phorcysmon yelled in frustration and turned to resume fighting only to fall to the ground as it gave another violent shake.

Erebmon released another howl catching Phorcysmon's attention. The digimon was encased in darkness, a thick layer of mist surrounding his huddled form. The twilight digimon's tail twitched in an agitated manner as the howl continued to reverberate off the walls of the now destroyed library. Before his very eyes, Phorcysmon saw eight tails of dark energy extend from the darkness surrounding Erebmon and slash menacingly through the air with grace.

And for the first time since he created Deinomon, Phorcysmon felt dread rise in his mind. He had to get the digidestined of Light and get out of there. Once he had her, it didn't matter if his enemies had a legion of mega digimon, he would prevail.

"Enyomon," he yelled, "forget the others. Focus on the target!"

The two dark digimon stood and located Kari before rushing toward her, moving in a strategic way so as to avoid confrontation with as many enemies as possible. As he approached, he felt his digital heart race in anticipation and success. He was going to make it. He lunged at the digidestined, fear evident in her eyes as her blonde companion yelled to warn the others. He stretched out his hand to grab her by the neck. He almost had her.

He felt the blow and heard Enyomon yell in pain before he realized what was happening. One of the black tails that had been created by Erebmon swung around and connected with his chest, throwing him across the library and into the opposing stone wall. He heard a second crack as his daughter was thrown after him, her head connecting with the wall and knocking her unconscious. He growled in disappointment and anger as he picked up his daughter. He had lost this battle, foolishly underestimated the digidestined, but he would not lose the war. He would not make this mistake again. He would strengthen his army and take care of the digidestined threat.

With a sickening ripping sound, Phorcysmon's wings tore from his back. He lifted himself into the air and toward the broken stained glass window. "One point to you, digidestined. Savor it, for it will be your last," and with that, he retreated through the window.

There was silence once again, a sound that no longer held the idea of peace, but the implication of injury. No sounds were heard except for the labored breath and sudden sporadic shifts in the dirt from Erebmon. No one stood near the dark digimon. Ankylomon looked at his digidestined and received a nod before making his move.

With agility that should not be possessed by a creature of his size, Ankylomon charged toward the lone digimon that still sat with his face in the ground. "Tail Hammer!" he yelled as he aimed at his, what he thought, former companion.

Just as his tail was approaching Erebmon, Ankylomon quickly changed its course, landing with a loud crack to Erebmon's left side. "Ankylomon, what do you think you are doing," yelled Gabumon from his new position between Ankylomon and Erebmon.

"You saw what he did, Gabumon," yelled the tank of a digimon. "Only dark, evil digimon absorb the data of others. What he did is evil in the very sense of the word. He has to be destroyed before he destroys us for our data!"

"What makes you the one to decide that fate for him?"

"I took it upon myself."

"You don't have the right!"

"STOP!" yelled T.K. and Tai together causing the others to turn their attention to them.

"Stop, this isn't helping," said Tai. "Erebmon is our ally and our friend; you can't destroy him like this."

" Tai, he's done the unthinkable," said Wizardmon. "Only digimon of the evilest caliber absorb other digimon's data. They can't be reborn without it."

"Please," came a soft whimper from Sora, still being supported by Tai, "please, let them destroy me. I'm a monster. What have I done?"

"Sora?" said Mimi.

"No, Erebmon," said Tai, "we won't delete you."

"You have to, don't you understand?" yelled Sora, pulling away from Tai and standing as Erebmon pulled himself to his feet. "What I did is unforgivable. Phorcysmon isn't here anymore; there is no reason to protect this data anymore! Delete Me!"

"We won't do that," said T.K.

A look of anger took over Erebmon's face as he closed his eyes in frustration. The digidestined and their digimon took a step back, afraid, as they had never seen any display of emotion quite like this from the digimon before.

Erebmon let out another yelp and dove at Agumon, striking at the digimon as he moved away from the attacker. "Defend yourself!" yelled Sora in a deep, growling voice.

Agumon stopped moving, his back against a wall, and stared at the dark digimon. "No, Erebmon," he said kindly, "I will not fight you."

Tai watched as something started to glisten on the digimon's face. His heart sunk as he realized it was the reflection from tears running down the digimon's cheeks. The group cringed as Erebmon threw a punch forward, throwing dust into the air. Ankylomon and Gomamon began to run forward to help their friend, only to be stopped by Gabumon.

"Gabumon, you have to let us through," said Gomamon.

"What kind of friend are you, standing by as that…_creature_ attacks Agumon!" yelled Ankylomon.

Gabumon ignored their insults. "A good one," he said calmly, "to both."

The dust began to clear around the pair of digimon. As it fell, the group could make out the two figures, one shorter, standing and looking at the taller one, whose paw was in the wall. Erebmon has missed, to everyone's realization, on purpose.

"Erebmon, I know you don't want to hurt me or anyone here," said Agumon. "You are scared and ashamed of what you did, but what you did wasn't wrong."

"NO!" yelled Sora. "What I did is always wrong. What will happen to AncientWisemon now? How will he reconfigure?"

"Erebmon," said Agumon calmly, placing a clawed hand on Erebmon's arm, "you need to calm down. Look at Sora."

Erebmon, now breathing hard, looked over at Tai, who was helping to support Sora's weight. She looked tired with a glazed look in her eyes. His eyes opened wide in shock at her appearance, his paw pulled away from the wall, and he fell gracefully onto his knees.

Tai felt Sora stir in his arms and become coherent again. She shook her head to clear the fuzz and looked at Tai in fear. "Tai," she begged, "please don't delete him."

'No, Sora,' said Erebmon, 'I have done too much. Please, please delete me.'

She couldn't stand the begging in his voice. He was so desperate, so convinced he was evil. "No," she said out loud, "I won't let them."

Erebmon sunk back down into his heap, still breathing hard from his 'fight' with Agumon. Sora watched as Mimi approached him carefully, kneeled down beside him, and placed a hand soothingly on his back. "You know, sometimes what we think is wrong isn't always wrong if done for the right reasons," she said quietly. "Sometimes people steal food so they can feed their children, sometimes police officers must kill a suspect to prevent him from killing others, and sometimes good digimon absorb data from other good digimon so that bad digimon can't use it for evil. What you did is considered a bad thing most of the time, Erebmon, but in this situation I think most would say it is ok. You did what you had to do; what AncientWisemon asked you to do. Besides, even if he didn't, one mistake doesn't make you bad, hun. What is it that Matt used to say? We can't change the past, only make decisions for the future."

Erebmon looked at her in a mixture of awe and confusion. 'But what I did in unacceptable at any time. You HAVE to delete me, it's your duty as a digidestined!' he yelled getting to his feet.

"No, we are not required to delete you, Erebmon," said Sora.

Everyone heard Tai sigh and watched as he approached Erebmon from behind. He tapped the twilight digimon on the shoulder as he came to a halt behind the digimon, and as Erebmon turned, Tai landed a hard punch right to the creatures jaw. Mimi and some of the others gasped as Erebmon fell to the ground.

"TAI!" yelled Kari, but she did not grab the digidestined's attention.

"It used to knock some sense into Matt," he said calmly, "maybe it will do the same for you." And with that, Tai offered his hand to him to help him back to his feet.

Erebmon just looked at Tai for a while, Sora seeing many indiscernible images running through their connection before Erebmon took Tai's hand. As he rose to his feet, he spoke. 'Sora, I am so sorry.'

"Don't worry, Erebmon," she smiled, "all is forgiven."

"Besides," said T.K., "according to Phorcysmon, you should have a very helpful ability now." He walked toward Erebmon, handed him a book and smiled. "See what it says."

Everyone held their breath as T.K. handed Erebmon the blue and silver book AncientWisemon had given them earlier with the prophesy he was talking about.

Sora could sense a smile come through their connection. 'Sora…is it alright if I…'

"Always," she said smiling. "The Future of the Torn Soul…There will be a time of darkness…"

So, what did everyone think?

Just remember, though things may seem irrelvant now, everything happens for a reason. I have had one person figure out the ending to the story so far (but I don't think it really counts because she is my sister).

Coming soon(ish)...Chapter 20!


	20. The Spread of Fear

I'm not dead! I know it may seem that way as I have not updated this story is a year and a half, but I have been working on it. I promise! Hard to believe this story is going on four years of work (granted most of that happened in the first three months ^_^). Anyway, for those of you who have not given up on me yet, here is Chapter 20!

Cookies for all of you who reviewed!

I'm gonna dedicate this chapter to Xanpluto and Soramon. Those two have been with me since the beginning and I hope they are still around to the end. It is their reviews that have given me the most fuel!

Enjoy! Warnings and disclaimer are the same as always!

Fear breeds upon itself because it is a hermaphrodite capable of endless reproduction. Fear is a contagious disease, spreading from its first victim to others in the vicinity until it is powerful enough to take charge of a group, in which event it becomes panic. Fear is the afterbirth of reason and calculation. It takes time to recuperate from fear.

ERNEST K. GANN, _Fate is the Hunter_

She was surrounded by darkness, darkness so thick she could actually feel its inky viscosity as she moved through the endless night. The only light came from her glowing skin as she walked on, hoping to find an end, a door…something. She heard the footsteps behind her again, causing her to stop and listen, dread causing her heartbeat to skyrocket. She had no place to hide in this darkened Hell as the demon audibly came closer.

Something brushed against the back of her neck and she was unable to hold back the frightened scream that passed her lips. She had to get away! She started to run, tears of terror cascading down her paled face. _They promised they would protect me!_ she thought as she ran. _They promised I would never be alone!_

Panic clenched at her chest making it harder and harder to breath in the thickened air. Exhausted from a run that should not have tired her; she dropped to her knees in a fit of tears, fearful sobs wracking her slender body. _Where is T.K.?_ she thought as she cried. _Why isn't he here?_ Images of different scenarios ran through her head to explain why her white knight was absent, all of which involved Phorcysmon. Her tears increased at these thoughts, somehow knowing one of them was true but not able to recall which one. Somehow, not knowing how he died made her heart hurt more than if she had known. This could all be her fault.

A noise behind her forced her silence her cries instantly. She slowly shifted to look behind her in the direction of the sound, but it was so difficult to be sure that was where it had come from in the echoing abyss. She held her breath as she waited for another sign as to the location of her demise. She would feel so much better if she at least knew where he was coming from.

_No, Tai and T.K. would want you to fight, to get out of here! _she thought. _Go! Start moving!_

She nodded to her inner voice and began to turn around, fully intending to run full speed until she found a way out or died of exhaustion. She faced forward only to be met by the horrifyingly pale face of Phorcysmon. She let out a scream and tried to run the other direction, but an icy cold hand latched onto her wrist and turned her back toward her captor.

"Hello, Light," he said kindly, his voice slick with triumph. His arm raised before flying at her heart with sickening speed, a dreadful smile plastered on his face.

"NO, NO, NO!" Kari screamed as she fought against the sheets that encompassed her sweat covered body. She thrashed her arms and legs in an attempt to push away her nightmare attacker in vain. Tears streamed down her face as she hit and scratched any part of the body in front of her to escape.

"Kari!" yelled Tai as his frightened sister's fist once again connected with his already aching shoulder. He pulled her into a tight hug meant to comfort and restrain her. "Kari, it's Tai! Wake up, sis. Come on." Tai could hear the pleading in his voice as he begged her to come back to the waking world, whispering encouraging words in her ear as she continued to fight. "It's not real, Hikari. It's not real. Wake up, sweetheart, wake up."

He sighed as her struggles began to weaken and she returned the fearful hug she was receiving; her screams turning into a fit of tears. Horrible sobs wracked his little sister's body as he tried to fight back his own tears, thanking whatever god was out there that she could not see him while damning the devil that was putting her through this. Tai heard the bedroom door bolt open and looked over only to see his parents, both of their eyes filled with exhaustion and fear.

"Tai," his mother began quickly and terrified, "is she…"

"Another nightmare," said Tai tiredly as he continued to hold his sobbing sister.

"What are we going to do?" asked his father, looking and sounding as if he were about to drop right where he stood. It had been three days, 12 nightmares, and 6 cumulative hours of sleep for each member of the family.

"I don't know," said Tai, unnerved at his role in this situation. Once again, everyone including his parents were looking to him for answers that he didn't have. Answers that he wished he did. "Just go back to bed; I will get her to fall asleep again."

"Tai," said his mother as Kari finally started to settle down, "we can't keep doing this."

"I know," said Tai emotionlessly, "but we don't have a choice anymore."

There was no more conversation beyond Kari's quiet cries muffled by Tai's chest as their parents quietly closed the door. The siblings sat that way for a few minutes longer, Kari's terrified cries quieting with each passing moment until she finally pulled away and stared at her balled up sheets in shame. "Tai, I'm…"

"Don't worry about it," said Tai gently, unwilling to let her apologize to him again. "There's no need to be sorry."

"Did I hurt you this time?" she asked, still unable to make eye contact.

"Not a bit."

She ventured a look at her brother and felt the tears coming to her eyes again. His neck and arms were covered with little scratches and a couple bruises. His eyes shone with worry, love, and fear. He sat hunched on the side of her bed, muscles tight and eyes drooping in exhaustion yet utter alertness. It made her sick because she knew all of these things were her fault.

"No more tears, sweetheart," he said gently and with authentic kindness as he wiped the falling tears from her cheeks. "You're safe here."

"You should go back to your room, Tai," she said sadly, looking at the messy bed roll by her door that her brother had been sleeping in since their return from the digital world. "You're exhausted and all I do is keep you up. Go get some sleep in your room."

"Hikari Kamiya," said Tai, his voice a little scolding yet still filled with understanding, "we have talked about this. I'm not going anywhere until this is over."

"But I hurt you again!"

"And I'm still not going anywhere…"

Kari looked down at her hands that sat in her lap with shame. Her hands shook as the adrenaline from her dream faded away and the fear of her reality set in. Tears slid down her pale cheeks as she began to cry again. "I'm so scared," she whimpered.

"I know," said Tai as he pulled her into another comforting hug, placing a kiss in her sweat-soaked hair before placing his chin on the spot, "but I'm here."

"He's going to find me," she cried, pulling her brother closer. "He's going to find me and take me and there is nothing we can do about it. It said so, Tai! It said so."

"Shh," Tai hushed as he soothingly petted the younger girl's hair in an attempt to calm her. "I'm not going to let anything happen to you. You're going to be alright. Everything is going to be alright."

Tai continued to reassure his younger sister, hoping that she could not hear his hesitance. For how can one assure someone that everything will be alright when he has yet to convince himself?

She continued to star up at the ceiling, the white, smooth surface failing to pull her mind away from the events that occurred three days ago. She wanted to stop analyzing the words from the prophesy, stop seeing the images of battles that were now causing her so much fear and stop seeing the nightmares that plagued her digimon's waking mind that leaked through their connection. She knew that both of her digimon were awake as well, but none of them spoke. The night caused too many dark thoughts to venture conversation.

Sora readjusted herself on her bed, turning to her side and pulling Yokomon in close. She felt the creature snuggle into her embrace and felt her heart swell. No words were needed for them to express their love for each other, these gestures were enough.

But her heart began to fall again as her eyes landed on her twilight digimon, her Gisir. He had completely cut himself off after their return from the digital world, remaining in her room. Refusing to speak, eat, or even sleep. He seemed to be in a trance as his clouded eyes shifted quickly, looking at invisible images as if trying to find something. Sora had tried speaking with him, both out loud and through their connection, but he never answered her. It seemed as though the creature was shutting her out, but whether it was for her benefit or his was unbeknownst to her. She wanted to speak with him; ask him for his help and possibly help him as well. She was struggling with what the prophesy had said, and she needed his support.

They all did.

The prophesy had brought both hope and dread. Sora thought back to three days ago, just before the digidestines' world went to hell.

'Sora…is it alright if I…_'_

_"Always," she said smiling. "The Future of the Torn Soul…_

"_There will be a time of darkness_

_And the skies will fall to grey_

_The world will change alliance_

_And the righteous hide their face_

"_But through the dark will shine_

_A light the size of a star_

_And though the light was taken_

_Neither of them are far_

"_Just bring the three parts together_

_By way of phasmatis via_

_And the lost one can assemble _

_After the light has glowed."_

_The group was silent as the words they just heard raced through their minds. Each of them analyzed the prophesy, the very thing that Ken and Izzy had been hurt over, cost AncientWisemon his life, and Erebmon had done the unspeakable to obtain. They had all fought so hard to get this answer and only one thing flashed through everyone's mind._

_That was it?_

_The prophesy had answered no questions, only prophesized an almost apocalyptic future and created new questions._

_What were these three parts? What was phasmatis via? Why didn't that part rhyme like the others? What light?_

"_Well that was helpful," said Joe, voicing the cumulative thought. "That didn't give us anything! The only thing we know now is that things are going to get worse; and like we hadn't already figured that out!"_

'Sora…'

_Sora turned her attention away from the crowd behind her and felt her face pale at the look of fear in her digimon's eyes. _What is it?

'Not light was taken…_Light_ was taken...'

_She stared at her digimon for a few moments in confusion. What did he mean? Realization hit her quickly as she looked at her Gisir in shock. "No," she quietly gasped, though not quiet enough avoid grabbing the group's attention._

"_Sora?" asked Yolei. "What is it?"_

"_Not again," said Sora, before shaking her head and pulling herself from her dread filled trance. "Are you sure, Erebmon?" she said aloud, her voice cracking._

'I'm sure,'_ he said sadly, almost as though he thought it was his fault._

"_Read it again," she whispered venomously, her anger at the situation unintentionally leaking into her conversation._

"_Sora, what is it?" asked Kari, her frightened eyes locked on Sora's._

"_Erebmon says it said _Light_, with a capital L, not light."_

_Sora could see the words sink in as eyes became wide with realization. Everyone's attention focused on Kari who visibly started shaking._

"_Erebmon, read it again," said Tai calmly, his fists shaking with anger at the new development._

_Erebmon shook his head at the request. _'Sora, I've read it three times to be sure already…"

"_Read it again!" yelled Tai as he stepped toward the twilight digimon. "You can't be right! Kari has been through enough! You misread it! Read it again!"_

_Erebmon closed the book and handed it to T.K. before slowly and almost hesitantly approaching Tai. He placed a paw on each of Kari and Tai's shoulders before bowing his head and closing his eyes to relay his message to the two. _'I'm sorry."

_And with that, Kari collapsed._

The digidestined returned to their world after that, leaving Wizardmon to coordinate the clean-up of his master's beloved library. Tai brought Kari home to explain everything to his parents, he had promised to keep them in the loop this time, and everyone else returned to their own homes. They had been meeting after school to try and figure out what to do about Phorcysmon while Tai, Davis, and T.K. took turns staying with Kari. Yolei continued to research anything she could to make the prophesy clearer, but her brain was running on fumes, they all were.

Sora's eyes ventured back to her other digimon who continued his self isolation in the corner, eyes finally closed as he had succumbed to exhaustion. She knew this would be the only chance she could catch him with his guard down. After some time and with some difficulty, Sora was able to fall back asleep where Erebmon and her minds could be connected.

_There was nothing as far as the eye could see as the golden harvest moon lit up the starless sky. The ground held no life, gravel and rock spanning in all directions. The night air was cold, almost winterish as her breath past her lips in a thick fog. The instinctively wrapped her arms around her to unsuccessfully keep her body warm. She silently hoped this was not the place Erebmon had been keeping his mind for the past three days, being here for even this long was torture. She needed to find him and get him to listen._

"_Erebmon!" she called, surprised at the lack of an echo as the night swallowing up her attempt to find her guardian. "Erebmon, where are you?" She looked around desperately trying to find anyone in this large expansion of nothingness and couldn't help but allow the smile to spread across her face as she caught sight of her digimon sitting twenty yards from her, deep in thought. Her smile quickly died as she looked at him sitting on the ground, his arms wrapped around his legs as he hunched over, chin on his knees. He looked so…defeated._

_Sora walked stiffly over to the creature and sat down next to him, wrapping her arms around her legs as well, but she did it for warmth. The cold was quickly getting to her. Her guardian didn't even notice her as he continued to stare straight ahead, caught in his thoughts. "Don't you do this enough in your waking hours?" teased Sora as she attempted to get her friend's attention. She couldn't help but sadly smile when her digimon's eyes turned to look at her, utter sadness and despair held within the purple orbs._

Purple again,_ thought Sora, but pushed the thought to the side. That wasn't important right now._

"_Sora?" said Erebmon, the voice coming from the digimon for once rather than in her mind. "How?"_

"_I figured the one place I could find you was in your mind," said Sora. "It took me a while, but I remembered when you knew what I was dreaming. I figured if I couldn't reach you in the waking world, maybe I could find you when you were sleeping through our connection. Looks like it worked."_

"_Leave me be, Sora," he said turning away again. _

_Sora continued to look at her Gisir, her gaze changing to a glare at her digimon's harsh tone. He expected her to leave him in his despair after coming this far. "No."_

"_What?" came Erebmon's harsh voice as his head snapped toward her, fangs bared. _

_"I'm not going anywhere until you talk to me," said Sora calmly. "Matt used to try and pull this crap when he was alive too, pushing me away when he really needed me to be there and help him through. I lost one person that I care about to the darkness and I'll be damned if I lose another. So we're going to sit here until you start talking."_

"_I could just wake up."_

"_But you won't." _

_The two sat there in a tense silence for a few moments as they each waited for the other to speak. Sora silently wished she had brought a coat to this dream. She was getting really cold._

"_I shouldn't have done it, Sora," came her digimon's calm voice. "I should have told him I couldn't."_

"_AncientWisemon?" The dark creature nodded. "Erebmon, we have been through this. I don't know what else to say. If you hadn't done what you did, things would be so much worse right now. You know that, right?"_

"_Yes."_

"_Then why do you keep punishing yourself for it?"_

"_Sora, you must understand the gravity of what I have done," said the twilight digimon, pulling his legs closer. "Absorbing data is like opening a doorway to the darkness. It can cause a corruption of your own data and it prevents the absorbed digimon from being reconfigured. No good can come from what I did."_

"_But good did come from it."_

"_I know!" said the digimon painfully._

"_So what is really the problem, Gisir," said Sora, turning fully toward her guardian. "You see the good that came from what you did; you know the catastrophe that would have ensued if you hadn't. So why do you keep punishing yourself?"_

"_Because I should feel worse about doing it!" yelled the digimon, jumping to his feet, his eyes filled with anger. Sora stared up at her digimon calmly, no fear registering on her face. She watched as the anger quickly melted from his eyes and guilt took its place. He closed his eyes and turned away from his digidestined. "I…I don't feel anything and that…"_

"_It scares you, doesn't it?" she asked as she pulled herself to her feet. She walked over to her digimon, but did not dare touch him yet. She did not wish to break his thought now that he was beginning to open up to her._

"_More than I can tell you," said Erebmon gravely. "The fact that I don't feel… I feel nothing…nothing at all. And if I don't, what's to stop me from doing it again? What if my configuration is shifting? What if I become a dark digimon like everyone fears?"_

"_Gisir, do you want to be taken by the darkness?" she asked calmly, moving in front of him and taking the creatures large paws in her hands._

"_No," he said painfully._

"_And do you every take the option of darkness?"_

"_Only when I took AncientWisemon's data."_

"_Erebmon, look at me," she said, lifting her digimon's head to look into his pained eyes. "We are not defined by a single action. One time does not make you and evil digimon, especially when it is done for the right reason. We've all got both light and dark inside us, Gisir. What matters is the part we choose to act on. That's who we really are. The fact that you don't want to fall into the darkness speaks volumes."_

_Erebmon looked at his charge in astonishment before his eyes softened in a sad smile. "Thank you, Faen. That was exactly what this stubborn digimon needed to hear. I am, however, still worried about what is going to happen."_

"_I'm not saying you don't need to be worried about the future," she said kindly. "We are all worried about the future. What I am saying is you don't have to worry about falling into the darkness because I know you don't _want_ to become part of the darkness." She pulled Erebmon into a tight hug, noticing the sun beginning to show through the clouds and warming the air around them. "Now, why don't you get some real rest and we can worry about everything else in the morning."_

_Sora noticed the digimon try to stifle a yawn before sitting back on the ground in the new patch of grass that had grown in around their feet. "You should get some rest as well," said the creature as he folded his paw under his head and curled into a comfortable ball, quickly falling into unconsciousness._

_Sora smiled as she knelt down, noticing a tree quickly growing beside the pair. She laid down with her back against that of her digimon's, using the creature's natural warmth to reheat her chilled body. She closed her eyes and noticed the tree had grown to the point where is blocked the sleeping pair from the sun. She knew tomorrow would meet them with impossible decisions and unequivocal odds, but for now the two would rest. She took in a deep breath, a single thought filling her mind as she fell into a restful slumber._

It smells like cherry blossoms.

He couldn't sleep, much like the rest of his friends and family. However, his sleepless nights were not caused by fear or sadness. No. T.K. couldn't sleep because of how disgusted he was with himself. The thoughts racing through his mind were making him sick to his stomach, but no matter which way his thoughts went, he couldn't escape it.

So, like the previous nights, he found himself staring out his window trying to find a third option that he knew didn't exist as his digimon lay sleeping on his bed. Ever since Erebmon had translated the prophesy, T.K. had realized that he needed to make the hardest decision he would ever make, one that no one should ever have to face.

Matt or Kari…

His brother or his girlfriend…

His greatest ally or the love of his life…

After the prophesy had been read, it became obvious that he could no longer have both and both choices in the matter made him sick. If he and the group chose Kari, Matt would truly be lost to them forever. He could have the love of his life, but his brother would never be able to return to him, his family, and his friends. On the other hand, if he chose his brother, he would have to give Kari over to Phorcysmon and she would surely die. He would have his family, but he would lose his girlfriend.

On top of it all, both decisions made his brain come up with rationale that almost made him physically sick. On one hand, his mind rationalized that he should save Kari. Matt was already dead and even if they gave Kari over, there was no way to guarantee that they could do this _phasmatis via_ thing. On the other hand, his mind told him to save his brother. Matt had protected him and watched out for T.K.'s best interest his entire life. Matt had sacrificed so much form his sibling that he felt that he owed it to his older brother to try and give his life back. Not to mention he wanted Matt back in his life so badly. He needed him back. Maybe it was T.K.'s turn to make a sacrifice for his brother.

He didn't know what to do, but he did know that no matter what choice he made, he was a bad person.

The only hope he had was that this _phasmatis via_ thing somehow saved them both, but he couldn't help but be cautious. For every step forward they took, something came along and pushed them back to where they started if not farther back. In other words, they were gaining no ground in this fight. In fact, they might be slowly losing.

_The world will fall to darkness…_

T.K. closed his eyes as this thought filled his mind. He felt the cold winter air blow across his face through his open window, causing him to shiver slightly. He didn't want to tell anyone, but he could feel it coming. The air just felt different; colder, almost thicker. After everything he had been through over the years; Devimon, Puppetmon, Phorcysmon, he could just feel that difference in the air when that wicked darkness was around. He knew Kari could feel it too with the nightmares she had been having. Even Ken was restless in his comatose state.

He knew Mat would agree if he were still alive.

The prophesy was starting which meant they were running out of time. A decision was going to need to be made quickly and T.K. knew no matter which choice was made, he wouldn't be happy. What was even worse to him was that he was pretty sure he had already made his decision. The thought brought tears to his eyes and made a lump form in his throat. It made him sick inside to make the choice, but he knew he had to choose…

A black blur rushed through his window and pulled him from his thoughts. Patamon was up in a heartbeat, his short fur standing on end as T.K. ducked for cover. He knew he shouldn't have been that careless. Leaving the window open while dangerous monsters were out and about? They could easily get to him. They could easily get to his mom!

He was on his feet in an instant, ready to help his partner fend off the attacker, but stopped short the sight of the tiny vampire digimon that stood before him. "Pamphredomon? What are you doing here?" he asked, a bit taken aback.

"I…" she started before stopping herself. She looked so unsure, as if she were about to do something she was sure she was going to regret. This made T.K. extremely nervous. What if she was actually there to kill him?

No, she wouldn't do that. "It's okay, take your time."

Her eyes met his again, sadness and caring evident in those brick red eyes. "I want to help my family," she said almost defensively.

"I can understand that," replied T.K.

"But I also want to help my friend," she said kindly.

"I can understand that, too."

She seemed to be fighting internally with herself. "I could get in a lot of trouble for being here."

T.K. squatted down in front of the small monster and put a hand on her shoulder, giving her an understanding smile. "You haven't said anything yet, Pamphredomon. It isn't too late to turn back."

"But won't you be angry with me?" she said fearfully, looking at the young boy before her as if he were about to explode.

"No," he said kindly. "You can still turn back, no questions asked, if you feel that is the right thing to do. I am not going to make you choose between your family and me. I know both are very important to you."

The small digimon looked down at the floor, her lips pouted in an almost comical way. T.K. couldn't help but let out a small chuckle at the little demon's antics, causing her to look back up at him. "Can I…can I just stay here for a while?" she asked in a small voice.

"Of course, and your father never even needs to know you were here." T.K. moved over to his bed and sat on its edge, patting the mattress beside him in an invitation for her to sit. The small digimon slowly moved toward the bed, eyeing Patamon cautiously as she moved.

"T.K.," said Patamon, warning thick in his voice, "she's Phorcysmon's daughter. You can't just let her in here. She could kill you!"

"Calm down, Patamon," laughed T.K. "She's ok. She's my friend. You won't hurt us, will you Pamphredomon?"

Pamphredomon looked at Patamon, holding up her head defiantly as she shook it in an exaggerated way. "T.K. is my friend."

"See, it's alright."

Patamon glared at the little demon for a moment longer before sitting back down next to T.K., never taking his eyes off the virus digimon. Pamphredomon moved over to the bed and sat, swinging her legs over the edge as she leaned back on her hands. "How have you been?" asked T.K. as he watched her with amusement at her child-like tendencies.

"Not so good," she said causing T.K.'s smile to instantly fade. "Daddy is really mad about what happened at the library. He's breaking a lot of stuff."

"Did he hurt you?"

"No, but Enyomon got in a lot of trouble. He said it was her fault that the Erebmon got the Legendary Warrior's data. He almost deleted her."

T.K. felt a lump form in his throat before the fear of the situation traveled down and settled in the pit of his stomach like a stone. Was he so cruel as to delete his own daughters, his own data? "Pampredomon, you said you were made up of data from your dad, right?" The little digimon nodded enthusiastically. "Was Deinomon made of his data too?"

"Uh huh."

"So, when we…when she got deleted, what happened to her?" he asked guiltily. It was strange to talk to her about a family member that he had helped delete. He saw her face droop in sadness at the thought of the loss of her sister.

"She disappeared, I guess."

"Does she get reconfigured?" he asked, not sure if he was more afraid of the thought of the cruel creature coming back or that she simply ceased to exist.

"She is part of my daddy's data, but data can not be reconfigured unless it's all together again. So, I guess her data can't be reconfigured unless my daddy, my sister and I are all deleted too." A look of fear crossed her face as she turned to look at T.K. in horror. "You don't want to delete me, do you?"

Before T.K. realized what he was doing, he enveloped the small creature in a comforting hug. He never thought that he could develop compassionate feelings toward a digimon born of darkness. "No," he said quickly and kindly. "No, Pamphredomon, I don't want to delete you. If I had one wish about the outcome of this fight, I would wish that we could save Matt and resolve this without deleting you. We should be able to do that, right?" he said optimistically. "There is no reason you should have to suffer for what your father has done."

"So…so you want to delete my dad?" she asked.

T.K. pulled back from the small digimon and looked into her fear filled eyes. "If he continues like this, we don't have a choice. He will destroy the world. I can't let that happen."

The small digimon seemed to think about this for a moment. "I don't want him to hurt anybody, but I don't want him to get hurt either." She paused for a moment and T.K. patiently waited for her to continue. "I guess you don't have a choice, do you?"

"No, we don't."

The little creature nodded her head again. "I will protect him…" she stated firmly.

"I know," he said sadly.

"…just like your brother protected you."

That caused T.K. to stop suddenly and stare at the small monster in shock. He had never thought that Pamphredomon may have been there when Matt… He couldn't even make himself think it. He had thought about it so many times, created so many scenarios in his head about his brother's last moments. He wondered if he was scared, if anyone had stayed with him, what had happened. He knew he might regret it later, but he had to know. "Were…were you there when…he…"

"When he died?" she said sadly. "Yes."

"What happened?"

"I…I can't."

"Please, Pamphredomon, I want to know. I _need_ to know what happened to him," he begged, feeling the sting of forming tears in his eyes at the thought of his brother's sacrifice.

He saw the vampire digimon sigh, her resolve washing away with the tears in her friend's eyes. "What do you want to know?"

"What happened?"

"I can't," she said sadly, quickly continuing upon seeing the frustration in T.K.'s features. "I promised him before he… I promise I would never tell you what he went though. He knew that you and I were friends and that I would probably see you again. He made me promise not to tell you how he died."

T.K. felt the tears spill over his cheeks. Even after death Matt continued to protect him. "Okay, did he die alone? Was he scared?"

"No, if he was scared he never showed it. He was very brave to the very last moment. I knew he was your brother so I stayed with him as much as I could. The only time he was alone was when he walked up to my dad, his head held high. He didn't even flinch."

"Did…did he go quickly?"

"T.K…"

"Please."

T.K. could see the internal battle going on inside of Pemphredomon as he looked into her eyes. Tears welled in the red orbs before she hesitantly placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, mimicking what he had done not ten minutes earlier. "No," she said sadly.

T.K. was taken aback by this answer and couldn't stop himself from asking the next question. "Did he...suffer?" He wasn't sure if he wanted her to answer that one.

Once again the little digimon hesitated before answering. "Very much."

T.K. felt his blood run cold at her words. All of the scenarios he had concocted in his head had resulted in a quick death for his brother. Not once did he even consider that Matt may have gone through some sort of torture. He felt himself go numb as the little hand left his arm and its owner began walking back toward the still open window. The tears now freely flowed down his cheeks.

"He was very brave, T.K. You need to know that," she said over her shoulder, unable to look at her struggling friend. "Not once did he beg for mercy, not once did he try to back out of the deal he made. He was determined to save you, no matter the consequences for himself."

The little digimon turned around and saw the anguish in the young boy's face as he held back his silent sobs. The sight made her decision for her. Her family had caused him so much torment, she owed him this much. It was just up to him to use it.

"T.K., my daddy knew about the prophecy after we showed him the piece of paper Enyomon took from your friend after the fight with LadyDevimon. After Erebmon absorbed AncientWisemon's data, he was still confident that you wouldn't be able to figure out the prophecy because…because _phasmatis via_ isn't part of the ancient language."

"What?" asked T.K., still in shock.

"It's Latin, a language taken from your world so that no digimon would know how to complete the prophecy. It means _spirit road_. You must bring the three parts together by way of _Spirit Road._ That's all I know."

T.K. sat in shock for a moment before racing toward the tiny digimon and giving her a bone crushing hug, the sobs finally escaping his lips. "Thank you," he said, joy and anguish mixing in his voice like a bittersweet symphony. "Thank you so much."

She was released from the young man's hold and gave him a small smile. She had defied her father but she had helped her friend. She knew that no matter what way this war went, she was going to lose someone. She might as well give both sides a fighting chance. "You're welcome." She leaned forward and planted a small kiss on the boy's cheek, something she had seen one of the human children do earlier that week. It had seemed to make the older human very happy, so since she wanted T.K. to be happy, she thought that this human gesture may help. To her delight, it made him smile.

"I need to get back before my daddy figures out I'm gone," she said moving back toward the open window. "I wish you luck."

"And you as well," said T.K.

She gave him one more smile before jumping from the window, flying off into the starless night and back to his enemy's hideout, her home. He thought about what he had learned that night and could not help but smile.

They had just taken a huge leap forward.

So there it is! I hope it was worth the wait. I know not a lot actually happened in this chapter, but trust me, it was important. Did anyone catch the Harry Potter quote? Anyway, please review. Let me know if the story is still good. I will start working on Chapter 21 and hopefully can have that up relatively soon!


	21. Strength In Weakness

So it has been quite a while since my last update, but hey, it was shorter than a year right? ^_^ I think we have all come to realize that I am a bit slow on my updates. Between my job, my family, my friends, and other things I literally can work on a chapter once every couple of weeks. Plus, I am a bit of a perfectionist so I am even slower ^_^ I definitely give those authors who can crank out amazing long chapters in a couple of days a lot of respect.

Shout out to the reviewers!

Soramon: I always love hearing from you! Definitely my absolute favorite reviewer, don't think I have really made that a secret! Absolutely the #1 reason why I decided to continue this story after a year break.

Hedgi: I know, I am so mean to Kari and T.K. I am giving a potentially horrible task to Kari and it is yet to be determined if she will have to answer the call or not ^_^ I have also made a pact with myself to try and get these chapters out quicker so keep a look out every couple months.

waterlemongirl: I am so glad that I could bring you a little happiness on a stressful day! Makes me feel a little better about my timing. Funny about the translation too, I definitely giggled when I saw that.

EX Matrix 007: Thank you so much for your review! And don't be _too_ sure about that brotherly bond being broken. The prophesy might or might not come to pass. The rules of the digiworld are flexible. It definitely isn't up to T.K. (I need an evil smirk icon…)

BabyBee3: Thank you for your great review. I am still trying to figure out what all is going to happen with this story. As you will see in this chapter, sometimes things can just appear out of nowhere.

SoratoIsAwesome: I'm glad the story is still up to your standards! I hope 21 doesn't disappoint!

Anyway enough rambling. Warnings and disclaimers are the same as they have been throughout the entire series. And **NO FLAMES** please. It will make sense later.

* * *

"Let us speak, though we show all our faults and weaknesses – for it is a sign of strength to be weak, to know it, and out with it."

-Herman Melville

* * *

"You talked to who last night?" said Cody angrily. "You let that dark digimon into your home and just talked with her like you were sitting down to catch up? She could have killed you, or your mom! She could have deleted Patamon!"

"Cody, calm down. Pamphredomon won't hurt him. She's his friend," Kari said calmly, rubbing T.K.'s arm gently.

"His friend? Do you even hear yourself?" asked Joe calmly. "You're talking about the enemy here. She isn't on our side, T.K. At the end of all of this, she is going to be fighting against us."

"Guys, stop," said Tai tiredly as rubbing his eyes. The group looked at him sympathetically, taking in his haggard appearance. The only way to describe him was that he appeared he had been hit by a bus. His hair was even more of a mess than usual, shooting in every direction, with large bags under his eyes. His skin was getting a sickly yellowish-white color from exhaustion. "Pemphredomon is not a threat to T.K. and we all know that. She has done nothing but help him since we met her. So, if he trusts her, then so do I."

"You are both insane!" said Mimi, throwing her hands up in the air. "What if she went back and told Phorcysmon how to find you!"

"Come on," said Yolei, "T.K. knows her better than all of us."

"Yeah," said Gatomon. "Like Tai said, if T.K. trusts her, then so can we."

"What part of evil digimon is so hard for everyone not understanding!" said Gomamon hotly.

"She's only out to hurt us, to help Phorcysmon!" yelled Cody.

"She talked to me about the night Matt died," said T.K., finally joining the conversation and effectively silencing the group.

"She might have just told you things to make you feel bad," said Mimi sadly.

"No, the things she said…she admired him. She wouldn't tell me the details, but she told me enough."

"T.K., I'm so sorry," said Kari.

"There is a little less mystery about what happened. She promised him that she wouldn't tell me exactly what happened, but she did tell me one thing."

"What's that?" asked Sora, her interest peaking. Like T.K., she too wanted a little closure on Matt's death.

"_Phasmatis via_, it means 'Spirit Road'."

There was a shocked silence that filled the room for several seconds before there was an explosion of questions.

"What does it mean?"

"How did she know?"

"Did she tell you what Spirit Road _is_?"

"What did she tell you about Matt?"

"Whoa, whao!"

Sora felt a pressure in her head, one she finally figured out was from Erebmon being unable to hold up his walls guarding their connection while frantic thoughts raced through his mind. She felt as he did, as if there was something she knew; something on the edge of her mind that she just couldn't grasp. _What is it?_ she asked.

'I'm not sure,' he replied, his eyes scrunched as he tried to sort through his thoughts. 'Its feels like I am missing something.'

_Just think it through, go through your thoughts piece by piece._ _What is it that you feel like you should know?_

'Spirit Road. It sounds familiar for some reason.'

_I keep seeing blue come through the connection. Does that mean anything to you?_

Sora felt his thoughts stop racing, slow to a more comprehendible pace. A sense of realization passed through the connection, the colors silver and blue filling her mind. 'I have an idea, but I want to check it out before I get anyone's hopes up. Is it alright if I go and make sure I'm right?'

Sora smiled at her digimon. _You don't have to ask my permission Gisir._

He smiled at her with his eyes before the unmistakable sound of his disappearance sounded through the room. This drew the attention of the others. "He wanted to go check on something. He'll be back soon."

"Alright, well I want to go look into this _Phasmatis via_ thing," said Yolei, standing up and straightening her skirt. "The sooner we start on this the sooner we can beat Phorcysmon and get Matt back."

"Do you want any help?" asked Cody, grabbing his bag to follow.

Sora couldn't help but notice the sadness that passed over Yolei's face. "No, I should be able to handle it."

"Oh," he said, sounding a little dejected. "Ok."

Yolei seemed to notice the disappointment in her young friend. "I want to look at a couple of places first, but I will give you a call if I end up needing any help, alright?"

"Yeah, ok" said Cody, his spirits appearing to have lifted a little. "I guess, I don't feel like I'm doing very much to help Matt right now."

Yolei looked at her friend. "You know what? I could always use a second set of eyes. Always better to have two people know what we've already seen right?"

A large grin spread across Cody's face as he followed Yolei out of the room with the rest of the group. Sora grabbed her things and began to follow the rest of the group out of the door.

"Hey, Sora," came a small whispered voice. She turned around and saw Kari standing behind her, dark circles from sleepless nights sitting under her tired eyes. "Can I ask you a favor?"

"Of course," she said kindly.

"Can you go do something with Tai tonight?"

Sora was taken aback for a moment. She had expected several things from Kari. Ask her to talk, take her home, or ever go as far as to ask to see Matt's journal since she had so suddenly felt connected to the spirit world again. Asking her to do something with her brother had not been on that list. "What do you mean?"

Kari let out a sigh as she obviously tried not to look back at her brother sitting at the table, staring out the window as the others left for their respective homes. "It's just…he has so much on his plate lately, he's running out of juice. I think he just needs to get his mind off of everything right now and no one can do that better than you."

Sora looked up at her friend. Tai was sitting on one of the school's stuffed chairs in the common room, staring out the window with his chin on his hand. Anyone who didn't know Tai would think he was just looking at the snow falling outside, but Sora could tell that he was deep in thought.

"Yeah, I can do that," said Sora with a smile. "He definitely deserves a break."

"Thank you."

"Not a problem, but you have to promise you will find someone to get you home. He will never agree to go with me if he doesn't think that you will get home alright, do you understand me?"

"Absolutely," came a voice as T.K. walked over and used one arm to pull Kari securely against his side. "I will make sure she makes it home safe and sound. I'll even stay there until Tai gets back to make sure she is well taken care of." A mischievous smile appeared on T.K.'s face as he looked at Sora.

"Alright, but don't do anything Matt and I wouldn't do," said Sora with a laugh, despite the mention of her lost love.

"That doesn't cover much," laughed T.K. loudly causing Kari to smile slightly as well.

"It covers the important stuff. Be safe getting back, ok?" she said as she moved toward her friend, receiving a nod from the other two as they left the room.

Sora moved across the room slowly, trying to think of what the two could do together. It had been quite some time since the two had done anything just the two of them. Between school, needing to save the world again, and Sora dating Matt, life had just been to hectic. Come to think of it, she couldn't even remember the last time she and Tai had done anything alone. She used to love having conversations with him over cups of coffee, taking about everything from friends, to school, to the meaning of life. She missed that.

She finally reached Tai and stood by him for a moment. He was so lost in thought that he didn't even notice. She was desperately trying to figure out what to do. He had so much on his mind and she just wanted to help him through it. Then it hit her.

"Come on," she said, giving him a slight punch to the shoulder. "You and I are going to get some coffee."

Tai started out of his trance and looked at her, slightly rubbing his arm where she made contact with him. "Not today, Sora."

"Uh, uh," she said grabbing his bag, "you aren't getting away that easily. You need to get your mind off of all of this, or vent about it. Either way, you and I are going to go to Akira's Café like old times."

"But what about Kari?" he said, looking around finally noticing that everyone had left.

"T.K. is taking Kari to your house and said he would stay there with her until you get back. Don't worry, Tai, we got this."

Tai sat silent for a few moments. He looked at Sora, the sad smile pulling at his heart, before letting out a defeated sigh. "Alright, alright. Let's go."

Sora smiled happily before grabbing his hand and pulling him to his feet. A small smile, a real smile, dawned his face at the action as she pulled him out the door and into the falling snow before he had even been able to put of his jacket. "Sora, slow down!" he laughed. "It's not that far of a walk, but I still need my coat."

He quickly put on his jacket, wrapped his scarf around his neck and put on his gloves before the two started the trek to their favorite coffee stop. The two walked in silence for a while, neither one wanting to break to calm silence between them. After a while, however, Sora looked at her friend and noticed he was walking in a trance, his mind back on the things she promised to keep him from for a while. Why was this so hard?

"Tai…"

"I can't believe I didn't notice," he said, sounding almost disgusted with himself.

"Didn't notice what, Tai," she said calmly. This was time for Tai to vent, to get things out without the audience that would be present at the popular shop.

"Kari," he said. "How could I not notice she was gone just a minute ago? What if she had been taken instead? What if it had been a digimon?"

"But it wasn't," said Sora gently, placing a hand on her friend's shoulder. "This is why you and I are doing this. You need to take a break."

"I'm fine, Sora," he said, looking away from her and following the trail of a falling snow flake.

"Bullshit," she said, not to be vulgar, but to grab his attention. Tai was good at deflecting and ignoring a situation that was bothering him if it meant explaining himself. Usually he did this by lying, but he wasn't able to lie with his eyes, so instead he always looked away. The rarity that was a swear word from Sora would definitely get him to look at her. It worked and Tai's eyes locked with Sora's. "Tai, this is me you're talking to. Sora, your confidant. You know you can tell me anything and it will stay between the two of us unless it's dangerous, you know that. Now I will ask again, what's on your mind? What's bothering you?"

Tai's eyes dropped to the ground, the silence passing between them again. Sora was about to lecture him again before he stopped, nothing but the sound of falling snow breaking the stillness. "It's too much, Sora," he said quietly. Sora remained silent, waiting for him to continue. "Taking care of Kari, trying to find a way to save Matt, keeping an eye on T.K., figuring out a way to defeat Phorcysmon, and people asking me about the stories of digimon and the digidestined, it's all starting to be too much. I just… I don't know where to go from here."

Sora could see in his stature how defeated he felt. She looked a little closer and saw the dark circles that were growing under his lidded eyes, the small scratches and bruises that appeared on his face, and the exhausted look in his eyes. He was spreading himself too thin and she could help but feel that if she were in his situation, she would have broken by now. She suddenly felt guilty; she'd been so concentrated on her loss that she hadn't taken the time to think about what their leader was going through. Tai had so much on his plate, so much sitting on his shoulders that he should never have to hold on his own.

He and Matt were so alike each other in that way. Both would hold the world on their shoulders and never complain about it. They were both so strong. As Tai looked at her with a hint of sadness and loss in his eyes, she could almost see her lost boyfriend in him and it pulled at her heart.

Both of them had lost so much when Matt died. Tai lost his best friend and almost brother, Sora her love and greatest ally. Both of them were in need in comfort. Neither one of them knew who moved first, but seconds after their eyes met, the two found themselves in each others embrace, lips locked in a desperate kiss. Sora could feel time slowing down. She was putting all of her sadness, her anger, and her need to have someone there for her going into this single kiss, and she could feel Tai doing the same. She quickly came to her senses, knowing no matter how much she wished it, she was not kissing Matt, but she couldn't seem to be able to pull herself away. It was Tai that pushed her away, not forcefully, but enough to show that he knew what they were doing was wrong in some sense.

"Sora, I am so sorry," he said quickly, frantically gesturing with his hands. "I didn't mean…I shouldn't have…"

"Tai," she said quietly, "I know. It's ok, I'm sorry too."

Just as quickly as the kiss had happened, the two found themselves standing in silence again, too embarrassed to look one another in the eye.

"Tai," she began, knowing the question she was about to ask was unfair, "do you…do you still have feelings for me?" She couldn't make herself look at him, though she could tell that he was looking at her. She suddenly felt very confused, unsure of what answer she wanted from the boy. It was true that at one time she had held the same feelings for Matt and Tai, but for some reason, her feelings for Matt had turned to love, and those for Tai had turned to unconditional friendship. Now, though, she was unsure if she had misunderstood her feelings for Tai. So, here she stood, not sure what answer she was hoping for, yet dreading hearing either.

The answer she got shocked her nonetheless. "It doesn't matter," he said matter-of-factly.

Her head shot up and she looked into the eyes of the man she had been kissing not two minutes ago. "What do you…?"

"It doesn't matter," said Tai, not looking away from the red-headed girl. "At the end of the day, you are still Matt's girl. As long as there is still a chance that we can bring him back, it doesn't matter whether or not I have feelings for you. If believing that there is still someone alive that loves you the way Matt did makes it easier for you, I will let you believe that I do. If believing that someone could love you like that makes things more confusing for you, then I will let you believe that I don't. You can believe what you want."

"Tai…"

"I don't care how impossible we're being told it is," he said, his voice filled with determination, looking directly into her eyes. "I won't give up until we get him back."

Sora couldn't help but smile. "You know, you and Matt are so much alike, it's almost as if you're the same person."

"I'll take that as a compliment," he smiled as the two began to walk down the street again in silence. The snow continued to fall around them until Tai once again broke the silence. "Can I ask you a potentially upsetting question?"

Sora hesitated for a second. "I already asked you one without making sure it was alright first. I can give you the same courtesy."

"You said that Matt and I are pretty much the same person, right?"

"Yeah."

It was Tai's turn to hesitate as he weighed the price of this question. "Why…why did you choose him then, instead of me?"

Sora thought about it for a minute. It was a question that she had mulled over in her mind since she started dating Matt. What was it about him that made her choose him? She remembered the first time she had a twinge of feelings for Matt and the conversations the two had after that moment. There was something in her mind, almost like she was seeing things from a different point of view, and the answer that she had been searching for finally came clear.

"Matt knows how to get out of the darkness."

"I'm sorry?" said Tai confused.

"The first time I realized that I had feelings for Matt, I was stuck in that cave of darkness I was telling you about. I felt like I had been in there forever. Joe had tried to talk to me and bring me out, but Matt was the one who was actually able to reach me. He knew how to reach me because he had already fought his way out. Matt knew loss, just like me, and he knew how to overcome it. I guess I just saw a strength in Matt that I couldn't see in anyone else I knew, and that drew me to him."

"That makes sense," he replied.

"He had these walls that he would hide behind, but no matter what, he always knew how to make me feel better, even in the worst scenarios."

"He may have been an angsty guy sometimes, but he always handled situations like this so much more…rationally than I do." He looked over at Sora and allowed a slight smile to grace his lips. "I'd never tell him this, but sometimes I stop and think, WWMD."

Sora smiled back and let a small chuckle pass her lips. "What Would Matt Do?"

"He just always knew what to say, what buttons to push to get us going, you know? It's like he could sense in his heart what we needed."

"You're not the only one that thinks that, Tai. Trust me, but never sell yourself short. You're a better leader than you're making yourself out to be. I mean, just look at what you have been doing to look out for Kari and T.K."

Tai let a bashful smile grace his face, though his eyes still held their present sadness. "I know, I just wish Matt was here," he said, staring sadly at a group of girls that passed by, one wearing a Teenage Wolves shirt that was visible under her open winter coat.

"Me too" said Sora.

The pair jumped as a dark laugh resonated from behind them. "Wish granted," said a familiar voice. They turned around to see their friend, dressed in his black clothing, his hair hanging in his red eyes. The two glared at him as he smirked back at Sora. "Hello, Beautiful."

"What are you doing here?" growled Tai, stepping slightly in front of Sora.

"You said you wished I was here," he smirked, taking a step forward spreading his arms out wide. Tai and Sora instantly took a step away from the dark creature. "Well here I am."

"No, we said we wanted _Matt_ back, not Phorcysmon's damn puppet." The venom in Tai's words nearly dripping from his tongue.

Matt took another step forward, the smile no longer brightening his red-eyed face. "Watch it, Kamiya. I was merciful the last time we met, don't make me finish the job."

"All I have to do is call Erebmon and you won't be able to get near us," said Sora, taking a step forward.

"Perhaps, but how long do you think it would take your protector to get to you from wherever he's at? Thirty seconds? A minute? Long enough to rip at least one of your throats out."

"How do you know he isn't already on his way here?" asked Tai.

_Erebmon, we need you here, now!_

"Does not matter, he isn't here to protect either of you now."

"I can protect myself!" yelled Tai.

"That's right, you are the protector of all of these digidestined children aren't you?" taunted Matt.

"That's right. I'll protect every one of my friends from you!"

"Are you sure you can?" he asked, a menacing edge in his voice. "You seem a little… run down. Perhaps we should test that theory."

"What do you…?"

"If you are their protector, then you should be able to keep them safe anytime, anywhere. So, where are young Cody and Yolei? Have the Dark Emperor and Knowledge woken up from their deep sleeps. Or how about the Light. Where is she tonight, young Courage? Perhaps she wants to hang out." And with a dark laugh, Matt disappeared into a dark portal, leaving the two digidestined shocked in his wake.

"NO!" yelled Tai. The sound of rushing air filled the snowy space as Erebmon appeared before the pair, his eyes dark and ready to fight. "Erebmon…" begged Tai, but before he could finish, the twilight digimon nodded his head and disappeared into the night.

* * *

"Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will."

-Ghandi

* * *

Ok, so no flames for the Sora and Tai section. I never believed authors before when they would say it wasn't the plan, it just happened, but now I do. I had never intended to Sora and Tai to have a moment like that, but when I was typing it just happened. I have to admit that section is the whole reason this didn't come out a month ago. I have been trying to figure out if it was a good idea or not. I decided to leave it in because it just felt right, a tension that needed to be somewhat dispersed. I hope it didn't ruin the story for one.

I am working on the next chapter already, but the update may be a while (surprise right?). I am trying to make a crucial decision in the story development. Its one I know I want to happen, but I just don't know if it should happen now. If it does, I may have to make some alterations to the original storyline I had in mind and I'm not quite sure I want to do that. Let's just say another character's life hangs in the balance…

Also, i have officially joined Twitter (never thought I would do that) but only for my fanfic stuff. If you would like to see what I am up to or want to send me ideas of things you might want me to do, follow me on twitter under my pen name.


	22. Darken The Light

Hey everybody! Here is chapter 22! I can hardly believe it! I never thought I would end up writing so many chapters and that enough people would actually enjoy this. Right off the bat I am sorry about the yearlong absence. Life got hectic but I'm not here to give you a million different excuses. I should have done better, end of story. Thank you Soramon for lighting that fire again.

Anyway, get ready folks, things are about to get rough and darker. **Also, as we get closer to the conclusion, some riddles are going to start having their answers come to light for some people. If you are one of those people, please refrain from telling everyone in your reviews. Figuring out the clues is half the fun of this story so please, if you have a theory, feel free to PM me. I will be happy to be cryptic for you ^_^**

Just as a heads up, Kari is probably going to be seen as OOC for a little while, but everyone just has to think about what this poor girl is going through (I'm not very nice to her and I'm about to get worse :-/). Hope you all like it.

Also, I have officially joined Twitter but only for my fanfic stuff. If you would like to see what I am up to or want to send me ideas of things you might want me to do/yell at me for taking too long, follow me on twitter under my pen name.  /#!/StarShinobi

No without further ado because I have made you wait too long the way it is, here is the next installment. All warnings and disclaimers are the same. I do not own the song _Keep You Safe_ by JJ Heller.

* * *

"Light thinks it travels faster than anything but it is wrong. No matter how fast travels, it finds the darkness has always got there first, and is waiting for it."

~Terry Pratchett

* * *

T.K. walked through the halls of the school, his arm slung around Kari's shoulders as the pair headed toward the exit to take her home. He couldn't help but feel a tug at his heart as Kari quietly looked over her shoulder for the eighth time since they left the meeting just two minutes ago. She slowly returned her attention forward as if she was worried Phorcysmon would appear when her back was turned.

T.K. leaned over a placed a gentle kiss to her temple, pulling her closer in an attempt to comfort her. "You don't have to worry. Phorcysmon can't come out in the day time, remember? You're safe," he said adjusting her scarf before they exited onto the cold street.

"I know," said Kari, "but I can't help but feel like I'm being watched. Phorcysmon may not be able to come during the day, but who knows what he has following us."

"And that's why we're going to stick together," he said pulling her back into his side with a forced smile. "No one can take us together."

The pair walked quickly down the street in silence after that. The sun was setting quicker than either of them had realized and both of them were aware of the fact that their safety net was rapidly disappearing. Once the sun went down, Phorcysmon would be able to walk where ever he pleased.

T.K. continued to hold the girl close to him, both to keep her feeling warm and safe. He glanced at her every few minutes, wanting to give her spaced to think, but also wondering what was running through her mind. He had never seen her this way and frankly, he was beyond worried about her. He wanted nothing more than for her to open up to him and tell him what was wrong. She had always tried to fix her own problems, but always knew she could and when she should ask for help. So he waited for her. He always would.

Kari suddenly stopped, causing T.K.'s arm to fall from her shoulders. T.K. turned and the two simply looked at each other for a moment. Kari dropped her gaze and hesitated before speaking. "I'm scared, T.K. Something dark is coming, I can feel it. Can… can you feel it too?"

"Kari…" started T.K. He had suspected this was what was plaguing her. He didn't want to tell her, but he had been having this weird feeling ever since Matt died, like a pressure on his heart. At first, he had thought it was grief, but it continued even after they found out there was a chance to bring his brother back. He didn't want to worry her, she had enough on her plate as it was.

"I've never felt anything like this before," she said, tears beginning to form in her eyes. "It feels like the world is getting colder; like all of the happiness is starting to get sucked away. It's…it's like that fraction of a second between pressure and pain when you know it's going to hurt but the pain hasn't hit you yet. And I'm scared, T.K.! I'm scared of when it's all going to hit."

"But it won't, Kari," said T.K., stepping toward her and taking her hand in his. "I won't let it."

"You can't promise that," she whispered, looking away from the boy but never trying to pull away. "It has to happen. The prophesy said…"

"By way of Spirit Road," interrupted Hope, "and we don't know what that is yet. I want to save Matt, yes, but…Kari, I can't let them hurt you either."

"I won't make you choose me. I want to save Matt as much as the rest of us, but I don't want you to let them have me either," said Kari as she flung herself into T.K.'s arms. "I'm so selfish."

"No you're not," he responded, holding her tightly as she cried into his chest, the snow falling softly around them adding white amongst the dark of the night. "Not wanting to get hurt is not selfish. We know what Phorcysmon is capable of and it's okay to be scared, but we'll protect you. _I'll_ protect you. You have to believe that."

"How sweet," came a familiar voice, echoing from the dark that surrounded them. T.K.'s head snapped up, alert as he searched the area around them for that imposter, but the set sun and the thick snow clouds left little visibility of the area. Suddenly, T.K. was pushed back; Kari's hand torn from his own as he flew through the before his back collided with the frozen ground. Kari screamed as T.K. was ripped away from her. "Trying to be her shining white knight when you have nothing but cloth armor."

T.K. looked up and was met by a horrible sight. Matt stood with Kari in front of him, pulling one of her arms behind her back with one hand and encasing her neck in a choke hold with the other. Tears were cascading down his angel's cheeks as she used her free hand to try and relieve some of the pressure on her windpipe. T.K. could help but stare in shock. Where had he come from?

"What's wrong little brother?" asked Matt, a wicked smile on his face as he looked at the younger blonde around his captive.

"You are not my brother!" yelled T.K., having enough of this demon's games. "Matt would never do this!"

"Never do what?" asked Matt, his grin spreading wider. "This?" The dark creature suddenly lifted up Kari's arm, pushing at an odd angle wand eliciting a pain filled cry from the girl.

"Stop!" yelled T.K.

"What's the matter? Didn't you promise to keep her safe, White Knight? Can't you keep your promises?" T.K. scrambled to his feet, frantically trying to find a point where he could attack the dark puppet.

"T.K. please help me!" Kari cried.

"I'll get you free. I won't let him take you!"

"Take her?" laughed the older blonde. "Trust me Hope, me taking her away is the least of your worries. It's when I hand her off to Phorcysmon that you should worry about."

"Kari, look at me," pleaded T.K. at the terrified look on her face. "Block him out. I'm gonna get you out of here. Focus on me." Unfortunately he could not pull the girl's attention from the demon.

"You, my pretty lady, aren't going to wait in a cell like he and I did," said Matt, nodding his head in T.K.'s direction.

"Kari, please, look at _me_." He needed her to focus on him instead of Matt. He was toying with her and it was working. Kari's eyes suddenly met T.K.'s, tear-filled orbs pleading for help. T.K. took off, noticing Matt had released her hand, though his arm remained around her neck. This was his chance.

"Oh no, you get to go straight to the grand finally," he taunted, lifting a bloody hand in her line of sight.

T.K. watched in horror as Kari's resolve broke and she screamed, struggling for all she was worth. She began using both of her hands to try and push away his arm off her neck. T.K. picked up speed as Matt continued to laugh at her pain. He hated him!

T.K. faltered as the thought crossed his mind, but only for a split second. Unfortunately that was all the time the imposter needed to turn his hand around, releasing a wave of energy and throwing T.K. back again. He landed with a hard thud, momentarily stunned. _When did he learn to do that?_

"T.K. help me!"

Kari's pleas were enough get T.K. back on his feet and charging at the laughing demon again. He wouldn't let him take her away! However, he was met by the same result. Again and again T.K. charged and was thrown back, each time getting back up in an attempt to save his Light.

"T.K. please stop, you'll die!" called Kari. T.K. felt his heart drop at her words. _When had she started saying that?_

"I'm tired of this," said Matt dully. He pushed T.K. back once more with more force than he had used before. T.K. skid across the ground, rolling to a stop. He tried to push himself up, finding his strength diminishing and arms shaking before collapsing back on the ground. He heard Kari screaming and tried to find the strength to go to her. She needed him now. _Please, let me help her!_ He begged, frustrated tears forming in his eyes. He had to get to her.

A sudden gusting noise followed by a pained grunt reached T.K.'s ears, instantly followed by a surprised gasp from Kari. T.K. turned his attention toward the sound and saw Erebmon standing over Matt who now lay prone on the ground. Kari had fallen from Matt's grasp and began crawling toward the Barer of Hope. When she reached him, T.K. enveloped her in his arms, allowing her to hide her face in his chest and cry.

He hadn't been able to keep his promise.

"I said you can't control me!" yelled Matt, pulling T.K.'s attention. Erebmon was advancing on Matt with a rage in his eyes he had only seen after he had absorbed AncientWisemon. Matt scrambled to his feet and continued to back away from the angry digimon, his eyes frantic. "You can't protect all of them."

Erebmon growled deeply at the creature, sliding into a defensive stance as Matt's posture changed. All fear was erased from his face as he lifted his chin in an arrogant, aristocratic fashion and his shoulders relaxed. T.K. was taken aback as the voice that came out of Matt suddenly changed to that of Phorcysmon. "I will have Light, whether it takes me three minutes or three weeks, she will be mine. I will kill each and every one of those damn digidestined to get her. Of that I can promise." The puppet suddenly turned its gaze, locking eyes with T.K. "And I will make sure to have the most fun with you," he said before a laugh tore from his throat.

Kari tightened her grip on T.K. and Erebmon readied an attack, hand glowing while the demon focused on T.K. For a moment, everything became dark for the Bearer of Hope, the world becoming black as he stared into Matt's red eyes. Matt slowly morphed before him, becoming the devil that spoke through him as a chuckled hummed in his throat. "Got you," he said confusing T.K. for a moment.

The trance was suddenly broken as Matt was catapulted backward by Erebmon driving his paw into Matt's chest. He was thrown back, hitting the ground with a sickening crack. T.K. sat stunned for a moment; sure the twilight digimon had killed him by the way his body had twisted.

Oh wait…he was already dead.

Matt slowly pushed himself up so he sat on his knees, breathing hard. "Heh, too late guardian," Matt said to Erebmon, his voice raspy but back to normal. Kari tried to pull away to look at their enemy, but T.K. held her fast. He couldn't let her see this. Matt sat with his hand to his chest. His breath came in rasps as he struggled to get air into his damaged chest and past the blood that dripped from his grinning mouth and chin. "I got him."

Rage registered on Erebmon's face again before he began charging at the boy again, his paws alight with dark power as he readied another attack. "Erebmon no!" cried T.K. He knew it wasn't Matt, but he still couldn't stand to see him hurt.

Erebmon stopped in his tracks, turning to give T.K. an irritated look. Their attention was caught by movement and their eyes shot toward the older blonde. A shadow that had appeared on the ground below Matt began reaching up and enveloping him darkness. "Watch your back," said Matt as the darkness completely surrounded him, "because this is only the beginning." The teenager was completely obstructed from view before the portal sunk back into the ground and disappeared.

An eerie semi-silence fell over the area, only Kari's muffled sobs broke the snowy echoless void that surrounded them. T.K. held the girl close, trying to console her in the only way his tired body would allow. Erebmon continued to stare at the place where Matt had disappeared as if the demon would come back at any moment to finish what he had started.

"Erebmon?" called T.K. after allowing his heart beat to come back down to normal. The digimon turned hesitantly from his staring contest with the ground and faced the pair, muscles never relaxing as he remained alert. "Could you help me get her home?"

The twilight digimon glanced back at the spot before moving over to the pair and kneeling down next to them. He looked at T.K., staring him in the eye for a moment before looking at Kari and returning his gaze to the blonde haired boy. It surprised T.K. how quickly he realized what the creature was saying. "No, I think I got her, but I could use some help getting up."

Erebmon helped T.K. stand, Kari held securely in his arms. He waited a few moments to be sure that he would be strong enough to carry her the remaining six blocks to home. Oddly enough, his arms didn't see, so wear with Matt's departure. Erebmon glanced back at the spot on the ground one last time before nodding to T.K., indicating he was ready to go. The trio walked with only the crunching of snow and Kari's soft sniffs breaking the silence. T.K. held her tight, the only way he could think of giving her comfort now. He could think of no way of consoling her verbally.

Once the Kamiya apartment came into view, T.K. looked down at the girl in his arms. She had fallen asleep in his hold, face pushed up against him as she slept. Unfortunately, the ordeal she had just gone through had caused this sleep to be somewhat restless as her eyes darted back and forward behind their lids. He needed to get her inside.

"Crud, I don't know where she put her keys," sighed T.K. as the group approached the apartment door. Her parents wouldn't be home from work yet. "Erebmon, can you search her bag?"

Erebmon shook his head at the teen before disappearing in a blink of an eye and the sound of gusting wind. Not a second later, T.K. watched the apartment door open from the inside, Erebmon looking at him with amused eyes.

T.K. shook his head at the digimon and chuckled. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. I should have remembered that. Don't gloat."

The twilight digimon moved to allow the boy and sniffing girl to enter the house. T.K. toed off his shoes and felt the digimon remove those of the Barer of Light. As he moved down the entry hall, he heard three more sets of feet coming barreling toward him. "Kari! T.K. what happened to her?!" yelled Gatomon.

"She doesn't look too good," said Patamon.

"She'll be okay," said T.K. His head shot toward his digimon. "Wait, Patamon what are you doing here?"

"Biyomon called us," came the calming voice of Gabumon. "She said Erebmon let her know what was going on and Sora told her where you two would be headed. She told us to meet you here."

"Thanks guys."

"She looks exhausted," said Gabumon. "Why don't we bring her to her room and let her rest a little."

The rest of the group agreed and T.K. carried the girl into her room. T.K. looked at the face of the one he loved and felt his heart clench. Gabumon was right, the girl looked drained. Dark circles were tattooed below her closed eyes and tear stains streaked her cheeks. Kari was exhausted and very quickly approaching the end of her rope.

She needed someone to protect her. He knew that on a regular basis, Kari was more than capable of taking care of herself, of keeping her hope and optimism alive; but she needed help right now. The girl was running out of steam and T.K. knew it was up to him to help her out.

T.K. felt guilt build up in his chest. He had failed her. It was his job to keep her safe and he had failed. He hadn't been enough to protect her from his own brother's body and Phorcysmon's puppet had overpowered him without even touching him. He knew Matt wasn't there anymore, but it still hurt to see his own flesh and blood trying to harm the girl he loved. He reminded himself that Matt would have never done that, but the scene just kept replaying in his head like a bad movie.

He sometimes wondered how Gabumon dealt with seeing or hearing about Matt's body doing these things. He looked up to see Gabumon talking to the dark digimon as they stood guard of Kari's room. Erebmon looked at Gabumon in response to his words. He made a small hand gesture which elicited a new conversation point from Gabumon. He found it strange how those two were able to communicate when the others had yet to figure out how to understand the twilight creature.

A sudden stirring in his arms pulled T.K.'s attention back to the immediate area. Kari suddenly shot up in a panic, pulling out of his arms and flying across her bed to press her back against the wall. T.K. acted immediately and jumped to her side, putting a hand on each side of her face to force her to see him.

"Kari, Kari it's okay. You're home. We got away. You're okay," he chanted watching his girl slowly come out of her dream and into reality.

"T.K.? Oh god, I thought…I dreamt…"

"Shh, it's okay. You're safe." She sat forward and pulled T.K. into a hug. The boy returned the embrace, feeling the girl shaking in his arms. After a few moments, she pulled away, embarrassed by her outburst. "I should let you get some rest. It's been a long day."

He went to get up so she could rest in peace. "Wait," she said, grabbing his hand. "Please don't go." T.K. turned and saw her pleading eyes. "Please don't leave me alone."

"Never," he smiled, sitting back down and sliding his back against the wall. He pulled Kari into his arms with her back against his chest and wrapped his arms around her. She leaned back into him, still shaking and unable to relax. "I'm sorry for what happened today."

"It's not your fault. He's practically a digimon now. We can't fight that ourselves."

"I know but…"

"No buts," she said, finalizing that part of the conversation.

"How are you doing?" he asked to change the subject a little. He needed to make sure she was okay.

"I'm so tired, T.K."

"I know, babe. Why don't you try and get some rest?" he suggested.

"That's not what I mean," she said, her weariness seeping into her words. "I mean I'm getting so tired of fighting like this. It just seems like no matter what we do, no matter how fast I run I'm always met by the darkness. Maybe that sounds like self pity, but I really feel that way and I just wish once in a while I could meet the light."

"It's not self pity because it's true," he said plainly.

Kari looked back at him shocked for a moment, an irritation registering on her face. "That isn't very comforting, T.K."

T.K. took a deep breath and pulled her a bit closer before continuing. "You aren't wrong; you will always be the one of us to meet the darkness. It will be hard for you to go anywhere where the light is already waiting for you, and do you know why? Because Kari, _you_ are the light. The only way you are going to run into the light is if you were already there to drive out the darkness."

"I…I never thought of that. But what if I can't do it?" she asked, the tears suddenly returning. "What if I can't drive this darkness out, T.K.? I don't want him to take me away!" she cried. "I'm scared."

"I know you're scared…" began T.K., but Kari had worked herself up again and couldn't hear his words.

"What if he finds me again like he did tonight? What if Erebmon isn't there to help me next time?!" Tears erupted from her eyes once again as T.K.'s heart clenched at the reminder of his self-prescribed inadequacy in protection.

_I'm not like Matt. I can't protect the people who are important to me,_ he thought.

The sound of the apartment door slamming open caused Kari to jump and curl further into T.K. The boy saw Gabumon, Gatomon, and Patamon jump to their feet in an instant, the hair on the latter's back standing on end as the trio stood between their Digidestined and the front door. Erebmon placed his paw on Gabumon's shoulder, shaking his head once he had grabbed the lizard's attention. Gabumon must have understood the silent conversation that he had with the lithe digimon and instantly calmed.

"Kari, where are you?!" yelled Tai from the front door, causing the tension T.K. felt in Kari's shoulders to instantly dissipate.

"In here, Tai," T.K. called back, but he did not remove his arms from embracing Kari until the older boy was in the room.

Kari instantly stood, pulling herself away from T.K. and threw herself into Tai's arms, her sobs beginning anew. "He found us, Tai. He sent Matt after us and he grabbed me, and…and…if Erebmon hadn't come…! God, Tai, I was so scared!"

"Shhh, it's ok. You're safe now. I won't let anything happen to you," he cooed, lightly petting her hair in an attempt to calm the hysterical girl. He held her tight; wrapping her in a one armed embrace as if he thought if he relaxed even a little, the girl would disappear.

The Digidestined of Hope felt a heavy weight on his shoulder. He looked over only to see Erebmon with his large paw resting on his shoulder, looking past him at Tai. It felt as if he was trying to convey some sense of comfort to the boy in the only way the silent digimon knew how.

"It was a close call. It's ok to be scared but I won't let them have you," came Tai's soothing voice over the terrified sobs of his younger sister. "I promise I'll keep you safe."

T.K. couldn't stop the tears that welled in his eyes as he watched the siblings interact. The whole situation made him think of Matt. A familiar tune filled his mind at the scene in front of him, but when he realized he was _actually_ hearing the reminiscent tune, he looked around for the source. His gaze landed on Sora. He was ashamed to say he hadn't even realized the girl had come in with Tai in the chaos. He was taken aback for a moment when he realized she was humming the song that he had long forgotten, watching the pair in front of them as intently as Erebmon.

"Sora?" he asked, drawing the girl's attention ceasing her humming. T.K. found his heart ached as she stopped and wanted nothing more than for her to start again.

"Yeah?"

"That song you were humming. Where did you hear it?" he asked.

"The song?" she asked confused as if she had not realized she had even been doing anything. She looked down, crinkling her nose in concentration. "I don't know, it just popped into my head. The only thing I can think of is Matt must have sang it to me once. I feel like I was listening to him sing it in my mind," she said, her voice soft as she thought about the golden haired boy.

T.K. looked back toward the siblings; the combination of the sight of the two, the echoes of Sora's song, and the feeling of the hand on his shoulder pulling his mind to a place he had not been in years. He let his hand slip into his messenger bag and lightly touching the leather journal that rested there as he let the memory take him over.

* * *

_A crash jolted T.K. from his dreams of dinosaurs and giant parrots and into a dark reality filled with moonlit toys and muffled yelling. It took a moment for his mind to catch up with the sounds around him and realized his parents were fighting again. It wasn't like he hadn't heard his parents fight before, even though Matt tried to distract him from it as much as possible, but something about tonight's fight felt different. Maybe it was the fact that his daddy's S's sounded too long; maybe it was the fat that his mom's voice was too high. Either way, T.K.'s tired 5-year-old mind just couldn't put his finger on it._

_He heard another crashing noise, like the time he accidentally dropped one of his mommy's water glasses, before he realized what was different. Matt hadn't climbed up into his bunk this time. He looked around in confusion, fear causing his little heart to race. He always got scared when his mom and dad fought, and Matt knew how to chase his fears away. His anxiety increased even more when he remembered the last time Matt had been missing from their shared bedroom when his parents had argued. Matt had still been working on homework when T.K. had gone to bed so Matt had moved into the living room. His parents had started another fight and Matt ended up with a bruised rib when he tried to quiet them down._

_T.K. felt fear, more powerful than before, well in his chest and steal away his breath. What if Matt was out there again? Matt had still been up when T.K. had gone to bed, what if he was out in the living room? What if he got hurt again? He scrambled to the edge of his top bunk bed and looked around in panic. "Matt!" he rasped, just frantically above a whisper. Matt had always said to be quiet when mom and dad were fighting, like when they played hid and seek._

"_Shhh, Teek. It's okay," whispered Matt. "Go back to sleep."_

_T.K. looked over the edge and almost sighed when he saw his brother illuminated in the moonlight. He was sitting on the floor, leaning against their bedroom door dressed in his pajamas and looking very tired._

"_Why are you sitting on the floor, Matt?" asked T.K., trying to ignore the shouts coming from behind the door. Matt always told him to make believe it wasn't happening. "Did you fall out of bed?"_

_Matt let out a tired chuckle. "Yeah, buddy. I rolled over and fell out of bed. Needed to wake up a bit before I tried to get back in."_

"_Did you have a bad dream?" he asked. His brother was so silly, falling out of bed. _

"_No," said the older blonde with a yawn. "I guess I just rolled over too far."_

"_Well it's a good thing you decided to start sleeping in the bottom bunk then, huh?" Maybe that's why Matt told him he was going to take the bottom a few months ago. Maybe he was scared of falling too far. _

"_Definitely a good thing," said Matt with a smile._

_Another crash sounded outside their room, except this time T.K. noticed the crash came from something breaking on their bedroom door. The yelling became louder and he heard his mommy use yell something about 'drinking'. Was daddy not drinking his milk? T.K. knew his mom usually scolded him for not drinking it, so maybe his dad hadn't been either._

_The young blonde noticed his brother had moved in response to the crash on their door, bending his knees and pushing against the door with his back. Why was he doing that? Was he worried because something got broken?_

_He could hear his dad now, yelling something about cheating right outside his door. T.K. didn't get it. Was mommy not playing a game right? Is that why he wasn't drinking his milk?_

_They seemed to fight about milk and games a lot more lately. It had never been like _this_ though. Usually they just yelled for a while, there were never crashes. There was a loud thud followed by more yelling and T.K. could just make out Matt's name in the argument. _

_He didn't like it when they yelled about Matt. He didn't know why they sometimes fought about him because Matt never let him hear what they said after his name came up. He would do something to distract the younger Ishida, usually telling him a story or playing his harmonica. He knew it couldn't be good things though because Matt always seemed sad the day after it happened. It took a lot to make Matt sad. He was surprised that Matt hadn't climbed the ladder up to him yet._

_There was another loud crash and the yelling got worse, louder than it ever had before. T.K. could feel the tears welling in his eyes. He couldn't block out this argument and he was starting to get scared. Then he heard it._

"And what about T.K.?"

"What about him?" _yelled Nancy, and T.K. saw Matt's attention instantly go toward the door, his hair nearly visibly bristling._

"Is he even mine? Maybe he's really Yuri's!"

"What is wrong with you?! I'm not doing anything with Yuri!"

"I bet he's really Yuri's, isn't he?!"_ yelled Hiro._ "I always did wonder. The kid hardly even looks like me!"

"Are you insane?!"

"Well, let's just go get him and compare!"_ yelled his dad. T.K. instinctually moved toward the wall behind his bed when he heard footsteps coming toward the door. His parents had never come into their room when they fought before, even the night Matt had gotten hurt. The tears filled his eyes but he wouldn't cry. Matt never cried during the fights and neither would he. He could be strong just like Matt._

_Matt's actions were instantaneous. The second the footsteps were heard, he scrambled up and did the one thing the boys were told never to do: he locked the door. T.K. watched as his brother grabbed the desk chair and jammed it under the door handle._

"What are you doing? Leave them alone, Hiro!" _yelled Natsuko, audibly approaching the door as well._

_T.K. could look away from the door, fearing what would happen if his daddy came through that door. The boy knew his dad would never hurt him, but he had never thought he would break anything either._

_He watched in horror as the door handle was harshly turned back and forward as his father attempted to open the door, stopped only by the door lock and a padded wooden chair. The tears threatened to spill over before he felt his face come into contact with Matt's shoulder and he pulled him into a tight hug. _

"Stop it Hiro!"_ came his mom's yell as the handle of the door continued to turn violently. _

"_It's okay, Teek," came Matt's soothing voice as he continued to hold the boy tightly, rocking them both. "Just block it out. It's okay."_

"The door is locked!" _yelled Hiro. _

"See, even your children are afraid of you when you're like this!"

"You know the rules!"_ Hiro yelled, completely ignoring his wife's protests. "_Open the goddamn door, Matt!"

_T.K. felt Matt's grip on him tighten just a bit as he remained in his position on T.K.'s bed, between the younger boy and the threat of the door. "Just block it out," he repeated like a manta. "Just block it out."_

_T.K. wasn't so sure Matt was trying to reassure _him_ anymore._

"Hiro!"

"Get your ass out here, Takeru," _yelled Hiro through the door. _"I need to talk to you now!"

_And T.K. lost it._

_He was scared. He didn't want to go out there, but what if he didn't. Did that mean he was cheating like mommy? Was dad going to break stuff around him too? Fear overtook him as the tears spilled over and began to cascade down his cheeks. He was scared of what would happen if he went out as his parents' shouts continued, but he was also afraid of what would happen tomorrow if he didn't._

"_It's okay, T.K.," came Matt's voice, breaking the child's train of thought. "He won't get in here. I won't let him. Just block him out."_

"_I…I can't," cried T.K._

"Matt, open this door! Get out here Takeru! I want you out here now!"

"_He isn't going to get you. I won't let that happen. I promise I'll keep you safe, Teek. Just go to sleep. It will all be better in the morning."_

_T.K. continued to cry, his little hands fisted into Matt's sleep shirt. His body shook in fear as Matt continued to hold his brother tight against his chest, rocking him back and forth like their mom used to do. _

_And that was when T.K. heard it; this simple little melody resonating from Yamato's chest as he hummed. The world around them became easier to block out as he listened to the melody, cries slowly disappearing. When he ceased his sobs, though the tears continued to fall as he sniffed, Matt began to sing._

"_Quiet your heart  
It's just a dream  
Go back to sleep_

I'll be right here  
I'll stay awake as long as you need me  
To slay all the dragons  
And keep out the monsters  
I'm watching over you

My love is a light  
Driving away all of your fear  
So don't be afraid  
Remember I made a promise to keep you safe

You'll have your own battles to fight  
When you are older  
You'll find yourself frozen inside  
But always remember

If you feel alone  
Facing the giants  
And you don't know  
What to do

My love is a light  
Driving away all of your fear  
So don't be afraid  
Remember I made a promise to keep you safe."**

* * *

He must have fallen asleep during Matt's song because the next thing T.K. had known, he was waking up the next morning, Matt still in his bed. The older boy was awake, his back to T.K. as he sleeplessly faced the door. The pair had spent most of the morning in their room until Matt unlocked the door, telling his brother to stay put until he got back.

That had been the one and only time Matt had sung that song to him, because the next day, Matt and his dad were gone with hardly even a goodbye. T.K. hadn't realized what had happened during that fight until several years later. Kari had asked him one day after their first digital world adventure about how his parents had split up, causing the boy to really think about it. After that conversation, T.K. analyzed the events that had occurred that night and came to realize that Matt was awake the next morning because he hadn't slept in order to watch the door, protecting him from everything that could have happened in the chaos. Matt had never talked about it and T.K. never asked, but he wanted to believe that Matt had kept that promise, long after that horrible night.

Tears began to well in his eyes again as he thought about it. Matt had protected him from everything, every monster both digital and human. He knew when the younger boy needed to fight his own battles and when he needed to step in and play protector, being his guardian more than he ever knew. Even when their parents had split, he had done so many things to protect him that he didn't even know about until he read his journal. The tears began to spill down his face when he thought about how his promise had ultimately led to his death.

* * *

"_Thanks a lot for being there during the final battle. I really appreciated you backing me up."_

"_Sure, squirt. I'm always there to watch your back. You're my little brother and I will always be there to protect you."_

"_I'm not a little kid anymore, but do you really promise to always be by my side?"_

"'_Til the day I die little bro."_

* * *

T.K. was pulled form his memories by a squeeze on his shoulders and found himself face to face with the red eyes of Erebmon, Sora peeking over his left shoulder. "He's okay, Erebmon. Just spacing out," she said obviously trying to play down his tears.

Erebmon looked toward his digidestined, gesturing his head toward the young Takaishi. "It's alright, I got this," she said with a smile.

The dark digimon shot a glance at the boy before nodding at his digidestined and moving toward the living room. On his way by, he shook his head at his digidestined, looking down at the ground. "You didn't know where they were and got there as fast as you could. It's okay, everyone is fine." The digimon looked at her for a moment more until the girl gave him a small smile and he continued his trek to where the siblings had moved to. She turned her attention back to T.K., her eyes concerned yet wary. "Hey you okay?"

"I have to get him back, Sora," said T.K., unable to hide the waver in his voice. "I need him here."

"I know, Teek. I know."

T.K. was taken back for a moment. No one other than Matt had ever called him Teek before. Why was Sora suddenly calling him that? He didn't know whether to find comfort in the use of the nickname or to be angry that she had stolen that from her brother.

"No, I don't think you do. He died for _me,"_ growled T.K. Why did everyone think that they understood what he was feeling? He knew it was a little thing; that Sora was just trying to be there for him. He actually appreciated her effort, but for some reason he could feel anger building up in his chest at an alarming rate. "Matt didn't die because you or Tai! He died for me! He died because of ME!"

"You're right," said Sora sadly, causing the angry teen to instantly sober, but his heart still felt…heavy. "You're right; I don't really know the way you feel. I don't know what it feels like to have a brother that died for me, but I know how it feels to lose someone I love because he gave his life to save the things he cared about. He saved you and I really think that through that he saved Kari. If Matt hadn't switched places with you, I can guarantee Kari would have and then our entire world would be in trouble."

T.K. looked down at the ground. He hadn't thought about that, how much more Matt saved than just his life, but he couldn't seem to shake this irritation that sat in his chest. God, he must be getting as run down as the rest of them. Or maybe it was from the blows he received from Matt. A little rest would probably do some good. He looked at his watch and realized how late it had gotten. He wondered if Tai would let him sleep on the couch tonight.

The subject of his thoughts suddenly came rushing into the room, a new excitement in his eyes that T.K. had not seen in a long time. "Guys, Yolei just called. She and Cody found something."

* * *

**Lyrics from the song _Keep You Safe_ by JJ Heller

And there it is folks! Chapter 22! I was going to split it in half, but I though I owed everyone a long update since I have to make up for lost time. Anyway please drop a review! Let me know how I'm doing and that people are still with this story.

Just as a side note (since I have answered this question almost six times) I am writing this story and the characters based on the American interpretation of the original digimon stories. That means I am using the names used in the American version of the anime. I've said it before, and I'll say it again…if you don't like it, don't read it. If you are gonna send me a review, make it **constructive**.

Also, I have decided to do a little work on the story as well. I have developed my writing skills over the years and have come to find that the fist half of this story sounds like a armature wrote it (cuz one did ^_^). I've also found that I have dropped some ideas out of the story that I thought were going to be significant when I started and honestly lost where some things were going. What can I say; I've been working on this story for five years. Anyway, I am going to begin restoration on this story in hopes of saving it and bringing in new readers. I will announce on Twitter when chapters are updated (hopefully more quickly than the chapters).

Until next time!


	23. Tirades and Talismans

Alright, so I have finally returned to working on this fic. I really need to make this one my main focus. My goal is to finish this fic by the end of 2013. Then I will start to refine the story. It was pointed out to me by a reviewer (Sorry, I would have thanked you in a message but there was no respond link for me. So, I thank you now) that it is more important to give you new chapters rather than fix the ones I have already done. Those of you who have stuck with me even though this story is taking me years deserve to know what happens next. So, thank you Guest for giving me some constructive criticism ^_^

Also, other review responses can be seen at the bottom of the chapter. Seriously, my readers are the best!

So, disclaimers and warnings are the same. As I said last time, it's going to keep getting darker. Don't worry, I will give extra warnings where necessary.

**Also, if you have any theories, please feel free to PM me. I want to ask that you don't put your theories into the reviews so that everyone can try and figure out the tiny mysteries in the story on their own. That's half the fun.**

Also, feel free to follow me on Twitter and send me messages about getting my butt in gear when it comes to my writing ^_^  /#!/StarShinobi

* * *

"As long as one keeps searching, the answers will come."

-Joan Baez

* * *

Tai, Sora, T.K. and Kari walked into the public library where Cody and Yolei had asked to meet. The silence in the building felt almost overbearing; trying to keep quiet so as not to disturb the students studying there. End of term exams were fast approaching with the coming of the winter holidays, something that had escaped T.K.'s attention in light of current events. "T.K., they're all staring at us," whispered Kari as she pushed herself into the blonde's side in an attempt to settle her nerves.

He nodded back at her; he had noticed, but this was not the first time he had seen it. One by one, each of the students stopped concentrating on their books and turned their attention to the group of Digidestined passing through their midst. He took in the expressions of the people around them. Some looked at them in admiration, as many had since their identities as Digidestined were revealed. Others looked confused to see them, but the ones that threw him off were the few that looked…disgusted. As they passed one of these individuals, T.K. caught a glimpse of a magazine on her desk with a disheartening title.

_When will the Digidestined begin defending us? Some doubt they will._

The cover was filled with images of damaged buildings and blurry cellphone photographs of digimon on the streets of Tokyo. How had this all been happening? They hadn't seen anything like this in Odiaba. Why hadn't they been told they were needed in other parts of the city?

He felt his chest tighten again, though he couldn't remember it ever relaxing after his blow up at Sora. He had been trying to figure out where this frustration was coming from. Maybe it was because of the weight on their shoulders right now. Maybe the stress of the situation was just starting to eat at his tired brain, but the thing was the feeling felt…foreign. Almost like it didn't belong to him. He didn't have time to dwell on this now. There were more important things to deal with right now.

They could see Yolei sitting inside one of the meeting rooms on the side of the library. T.K. could just make out Mimi and Davis in the room with her. She must have told everyone to come and it looked like his group might be the last to arrive. Then again, it took them a while to convince Kari she needed to come with them. She was terrified to leave the apartment now that the sun had completely set and Phorcysmon could come for her himself.

T.K. had tried to convince her it was safe, but he had no luck with getting her to come. After several tries, Sora had finally succeeded in getting the girl out the door with a reminder that she was better off with the three of them than alone and, much to T.K.'s irritation, a promise that Erebmon would be with them the whole way.

T.K. felt his chest spasm again at the memory. Once again, Erebmon had made Kari feel safer than he did. It made him feel like a failure.

"Come in, come in!" called Yolei, excitement lacing every quickly spoken word.

While the others got settled, T.K. perched himself against the wall by Kari's chair where she began to idly chit chat with Mimi. Gatomon settled into her lap though she continued to watch the world around them for threats to her Digidestined. She almost looked as irritated at the world as he felt. He wondered how the digimon was taking everything.

A movement caught T.K.'s attention as Yolei pulled Sora to the side. "Hey," she said at a volume where T.K. could _just_ make out the conversation though he kept his eyes trained out the window, "is everything okay? Erebmon left in such a hurry."

"Yeah, everything's fine now. We…" She stopped and looked to see if anyone was paying attention to her. "We had a run in with Matt." Another angry clench of his heart. He felt his hands tighten on his biceps in an attempt to keep his reaction from his friends.

"Oh, God. Is everyone alright?"

"Kari is a little shaken and T.K. it a little roughed up, but everyone is fine."

"Should I tell the others?" she asked, chancing a glance at the Bearer of Light.

Sora shook her head. "T.K. seems really upset over everything that happened today. It's probably best that we don't mention it in front of the group." T.K. felt the hair on back of his neck bristle.

"Is he going to be alright?"

"I think he's just stressed over the whole Matt thing. He probably just needs a break from it for a while."

A heavy weight landing on his head brought his attention away from the conversation just before a little white and orange face peered down over the brim of his hat. "T.K., are you okay?" asked Patamon.

T.K. grabbed his partner off of his head and placed him on the back of Kari's chair. "I'm fine," he said flatly, turning his attention back to Sora and Yolei, missing the hurt look on the pig-like digimon's face.

"Okay," said Yolei turning back to the group. "Now that everyone is here…we think we've got something."

"What do you mean you _think_?" asked Mimi, her voice sounding tired as if she had been called to the meeting out of a dead asleep.

"We were working with Erebmon before he was called away, but we knew enough when he left to know it's promising," she said with a proud smile.

"Got called away? Is everything alright, Sora?" asked Joe.

"Yeah, I just needed him for something," she said calmly.

"Is he here too?" asked Cody

"Yeah, he's keeping watch," said Sora confused. "He said he would wait outside until we needed him."

"Can you call him in?" asked Cody politely. "We need him."

T.K. watched Sora close her eyes in concentration for a moment before a familiar sound of gusting wind filled the room, a sound that instantly put the blonde on edge again, reminding him of earlier. When he materialized, Erebmon looked to Sora as the two had a silent discussion before turning his attention to Yolei, waiting patiently.

"Okay, we think we found something," said Yolei.

"With no shortage of help from Erebmon," added Cody.

"Right. So while we were looking, Erebmon brought us the Book," she said lifting up the Laws of Digital Spirit. "Before he got called away, he showed us a page and started translating it for us. Erebmon could you?"

The dark digimon nodded and moved forward to grab the book from the girl. He opened it to a marked page before Sora began relaying his words.

"Shol si saloral tylalol si tol, shydia, eil myr syndraeraes. Sys si saloral saeraesol si shydia eil mael si shys, "Siriri sor shydia." Pai si masti thys si tol eil myr. Vaelaeri os si si vas ter shi puli celia. Oli ei vas vaelaeraer thys air saloral, air shor shaendrol sai paeraesosari eil shi jhyr thysaelaes. Shael eir si vas eisi vaelaeraer, si caes shor theri saes syndraeraes." The words rolled effortlessly from her tongue as if she had been speaking them her entire life.

T.K. saw Kari smile at the sound of the ancient words, as if they calmed her. He didn't know why, but the language spoke her to her in a different way than everyone else. "What does it mean?" she asked dreamily.

"Bring the talismans containing the mind, body, and soul together. Touch the talisman tethering the body and speak the words, 'Release this body.' Do the same for the mind and soul. Release of the three parts must be done quickly. Once a part is release from its talisman, it will begin to deteriorate and be lost forever. When the three parts are released, the heart will fuse them together."

The group was silent for a few moments, once again taking in the instructions, but for the first time, they began to feel hope. They had finally gotten answers, albeit not direct answers, but better answers than they had gotten so far.

"Ok, so how do we know what the talismans are?" asked Tai.

"I…I don't know," said Cody.

"Well, we're going to need to find it quick. I don't know how much longer Phorcysmon will hold off," said Joe.

"He has been oddly absent," said Armadillomon. "We haven't seen much of him since we came back from the library."

The glances that Tai and Sora shared at those words did not surpass T.K.'s notice and neither did the tensing of Kari's shoulders, reminding Hope once again of his failure. It seemed that these actions didn't go unnoticed by the rest of the group either. "What happened?" asked Cody seriously.

Tai and Sora shared another meaningful glance at one another before he gave her a nod. "Phorcysmon had Matt attack T.K. and Kari tonight before Yolei called us. He got very close to taking Kari. Erebmon was almost didn't make it in time. We got lucky this time, but according to T.K. and Kari, Matt seems to have the abilities of a digimon now."

"What do you mean? Like he can digivolve?" asked Veemon.

"No, he can release energy pulses from his palms," said Tai. "Kari told us Matt…"

"It wasn't Matt," growled T.K.

The group was shocked into silence for a moment, thrown off by the threatening tone in the blonde's voice. Uncomfortable glances were sent from one member to another as they waited for someone to address the apparent issue. "T.K., he didn't mean _Matt_. You know that," said Joe carefully.

"Well, maybe we should figure out something else to call him," he yelled, "because that _thing_ is not my brother! It isn't Matt!"

"Look, we know this is hard…" began Mimi before she was cut off by the Digidestined of Hope.

"You have no idea how hard this is!" he yelled.

"What has gotten into you?" asked Sora, grabbing his shoulder and forcing him to look at her. "This is the second time you've done this. You need to calm down."

"I don't have to do shit!" he yelled at the top of his lungs, slapping her hands away. He was about to snap at her again when a strong, furry paw grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and directed him toward the door. Before he could protest, he was out of the meeting room and in the common area of the library. He instantly noticed the number of eyes staring at him. He hadn't realized how loud he had been yelling.

He was pushed again, causing his anger to flare. He was once again directed, this time into an empty room before the door was closed gently by Erebmon. "What do you think you're doing?" he growled.

The dark digimon quickly approached him, causing him to step back, pushing himself flush against the wall. The creature grabbed his hand and he instantly pulled it back. "Don't…" he started, but Erebmon quickly grabbed it again, forcing the blonde's palm against his furry chest. "What are you doing?" he asked harshly.

Erebmon gave the boy a hard stare before placing his paw on the Digidestined's chest. That was when he felt it and the creature's actions made sense.

T.K.'s heart was beating more that two times faster than the digimon's, making the two just off step from one another. T.K. looked back into Erebmon's concentrated eyes in surprise, feeling the anxiety rise in his stomach. The digimon closed his eyes gently for a moment before opening them and continuing his stare down with the boy. T.K. got the message and closed his eyes. The action made him feel slightly better. He felt the chest under his hand begin to take long, exaggerated breaths, and T.K. followed his lead. Soon, their hearts were beating in sync and he was left feeling calmer, albeit filled with guilt and sadness. What was wrong with him?

He felt the paw move to his shoulder and opened his eyes. No longer was the creature staring at him with a stony concentration, but rather allowing a sense of concern to be conveyed through his red eyes. He didn't need Sora's ability to hear Erebmon's thoughts to know what he was wondering.

_Are you okay?_

"I'm fine," he said with a sigh, sliding down the wall and out of the digimon's grasp. He allowed his head to drop into his hands. Erebmon closed his eyes and shook his head, crouching down before the boy lifting his chin with his paw so the young man was forced to look him in the eyes. He continued to stare at the young blonde his eyes becoming slightly harder, but the concern still resonating. For some reason, T.K. knew what he was asking. _How are you doing? Really._

The look in the digimon's eyes made him feel vulnerable and he could not help but tell him everything. "I failed her, Erebmon. If you hadn't come, Matt would have taken her. I couldn't protect her like I should have. I'm not strong enough." He could feel the tears coming. "I couldn't do anything to save her."

He could not longer stop the onslaught of tears and openly began to sob. When had everything gotten so far out of control? He had lost his brother, two of his friends were in the hospital with no signs of waking any time soon, the world was looking to him and his friends to save the world from a digimon who displayed no hesitation in killing, and his girlfriend was next on that digimon's list. Worst of all was he knew he wasn't strong enough to protect any of them. They were all going to end up like Matt and there was nothing he could do about it.

Sobs ripped from his chest and tears streamed down his cheeks as he finally let his fears take hold. What if they lost?

He suddenly felt himself being pulled forward until his face came into contact with solid chest covered in fur. He instantly wrapped his arms around the twilight digimon, who in turn held the boy as he cried, resting his chin on the blonde's heat. The pair sat there for several minutes until the sobs finally stopped. T.K. pulled back and thanked the digimon before wiping the tears from his eyes.

Erebmon rose and patted the teen on the head, ruffling his hair through his hat before heading over to the dry erase board on the wall. Grabbing a pen, he began to write something. T.K. watched him intently until he moved away from the board, gave T.K. a nod, and left the room. He could only stare at the message the digimon left, letting it sink in.

_Everything is not lost. Don't give up on your friends. Don't give up on yourself, and don't let the darkness take your heart._

'_Don't let it take your heart_,' he thought. He pulled back his shirt to expose the area where his collar bone disappeared into his shoulder. He fingered the small scar that had developed there, where the heart representing Matt had been cut open and bled out. It was only fitting that it had scarred there. He hadn't told the others about it, but it somehow made him feel closer to his brother. It still angered him that Matt had given himself up like that, but it also made him feel extremely loved.

He was pulled from his thoughts by the door opening again, but no one entered. "T.K.?" came a small voice, wavering as if he were afraid he were treading where he shouldn't.

"Hey, Patamon," he said softly.

A small orange and white face peered around door. "Can I come in?" He gave the digimon a nod and the small creature moved inside, sitting down on the floor a foot ahead of the teen. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm okay."

The digimon hesitated for a moment, his face becoming worried yet stern. "Please don't lie to me T.K.; I know you better than that."

T.K. looked at his partner, his demeanor appearing as though he was afraid the Digidestined was going to go off again. He felt an overwhelming sadness come over him at the thought that his digimon might be afraid of him. Was he becoming a monster?

_Don't give up on your friends. Don't give up on yourself, and don't let the darkness take your heart._

"I…I'm sorry," he said, ducking his head down.

"For what?" asked Patamon, moving a little closer.

"For today. For not being strong enough. For being so angry for everything."

"It's not easy. A lot has happened to you. No one is expecting you to handle this perfectly."

"It's no excuse for treating you badly."

"No, it's not, but I know you don't mean it. So what's wrong, T.K.? Please tell me."

He hesitated for a few moments debating on if he should ask to wait to talk until later, but one look at the concerned eyes of his digimon changed his mind. He dropped his eyes, unable to meet his partner's during his confession. "I couldn't protect her, just like I couldn't protect Matt."

"T.K.," said the small digimon quietly, placing his paw on his partner's knee so he would look at him, "you are _human. _You need to remember that. You can't compare yourself to the ones who hurt Matt and are after Kari. You need to remember that these things are _digimon_ or _controlled _by digimon. If you could take them on yourself, Erebmon, Gatomon, Gabumon and I wouldn't be here."

"I'm just starting to feel like this is all useless. Like _I_ am useless."

"And that is when you need to remember that you are not, because just like you need me, _I_ need _you._ Without you, I would never be able to protect you and this world the way that I do. The reason I can fight the strong bad guys like Myotismon and even Phorcysmon is because I have _you_ to give me strength. I am nothing without you and Erebmon is nothing without Sora. Please remember how important you are."

"How did you…?'

"Because I know the feeling of guilt and uselessness that comes from someone else protecting the one you are entrusted with. Erebmon may have been the one to save Kari, but he can't give her love she needs to recover like you can. You just have to be there for her."

"I'm just so angry and I don't know why," T.K. said sadly. "I don't want to push you away. I can't lose you."

"Well that's silly," said Patamon playfully as he flew up onto the Digidestined's head. "You know I am always going to be here for you. You can't get rid of me that easily, okay T.K.?" he said peering over the brim of the blonde's hat, a smile plastered on his face.

T.K. felt his heart clench, but not in anger as it had been doing throughout night, but in an overwhelming love. Four people had given him that sensation in his life: his mom, Kari, Matt, and Patamon. He felt an urge and allowed himself to act on it, reaching up and grabbing the digimon off of his head and pulling him into a bone wrenching hug. The digimon let out a grunt in surprise at the intensity of the hug, but instantly pushed his face into his Digidestined's chest. "Please don't leave me alone, Patamon. I don't want to scare you away."

"Never. I'm never going anywhere."

The pair sat there for a while, just being glad they had each other in this mess before Patamon spoke again. "It's going to be hard, T.K., and bad things are probably still going to happen. Please come to me if it gets to be too much. I am always here for you, not matter what happens. You could become the Dark Emperor and I would still be by your side, so know you can come to me anytime. No one else has to know. I'm not Matt, but I can stand in for him until we get him back. If you promise to always come to me, I will promise to always stick by you. Okay?"

T.K. nodded, knowing that his friend couldn't see him but knowing he still knew the promise was there. "I love you, Patamon."

"I love you too, T.K." He snuggled into his partner one more time before pulling back. "Are you okay to head back in?"

"Yeah," he said, feeling much better. "Let's go figure this thing out." He picked the digimon up and placed him back in his rightful place, on top of his head, and collected himself before returning to the meeting room with the others. "Guys, I'm sorry."

"No apologies needed, T.L. It's been a rough day, we'll let it slide this time," said Davis, waving his hand in a dismissive way. T.K. couldn't help but smile. You could always depend on Davis to take things in stride.

"What did you guys decide?" he asked the group, hoping to be caught up.

"We waited for you, of course," said Tai. "Like we were going to do this without you."

The group fell back into the conversation they were having before T.K. was pulled from the room, discussing the new developments with Matt's abilities and falling back into the talismans.

"I wonder what they are?" asked Mimi.

"Well, we obviously know that Phorcysmon has the talisman with Matt's body," said Gomamon. "Do you think it has to be an object or could Phorcysmon be the actual talisman?"

"I'm not sure," said Sora, "but Erebmon just told me that there is a little more on the next page. If the talisman holding one of the parts is broken or destroyed in some way, the part it holds can either be destroyed with it or possibly released. If it's released, the process has to be done or the part will be lost."

"So Phorcysmon…" started Joe.

"We can't defeat him until we know what and where the other talismans are or until we are sure destroying him won't release the Body," said Tai.

"What you need to remember is that a digimon's weapons and artifacts are also destroyed when a digimon is deleted if it is included in their data," said Hawkmon.

"Okay, so we need to find where to look for these talismans," said Mimi.

"There has to be something in the Book," said Kari. "It seems to have all of the answers in it."

"Why don't you and Erebmon work on looking for the answer, Yolei," said Cody.

"Okay," said Yolei, pulling out a notebook and writing something down, "but it may be better for Erebmon to take it and look through it. I can't read any of this."

"He thinks it would be better if we let you keep the book," said Sora. "Phorcysmon knows he is the only one who can read it, so he would expect him to have it."

"I never thought of that," said Joe. "Is it a good idea to leave it with Yolei then either? I'm sure he's figured out by now that she is working on researching how to save Matt."

"It may be better to keep it with her. She has all the information we have on this anyway," commented Agumon.

"Oh, that reminds me," said Yolei standing up. "I have been keeping a notebook of everything we know and any pieces of information I thought might be important. I thought it might be a good idea based on what happened to Izzy and Ken. If…if anything happens to me, this is what it looks like. I have been hiding it behind the bookshelf in my bedroom when I'm not writing in it."

"Nothing is going to happen to you, Yolei," said Davis in an attempt to comfort her.

"We can't promise that to each other anymore," she said sadly. "We can promise to help protect each other, but we can't promise nothing will happen. With one dead and two in comas, we have to seriously consider losing someone else. I just want to make sure we are prepared." She was silent for a moment before changing the subject again. "So, what would I look for while you aren't with me to find anything of use, Erebmon?"

Sora followed her dark digimon to the table where he drew several flowing words with their translation in her notebook while Sora explained them to her for him. "These are several of the words to look for. Tol means mind, myr means soul, shydia is body, and caes - heart. You may also be able to find this one; saloral is talisman."

"Okay," said Yolei. "So this one is heart, right?" she asked pointing to a word in the book.

"No, it's close but not the same," said Sora. "See how the one in the book is missing that small line right there? That one is shael, it means 'when'."

"This is going to be hard," sighed the girl.

"Don't worry, Erebmon has a lot of confidence in you. He said if anyone can do it, you can." The girl perked up a bit at this, smiling at the digimon who squinted his eyes in an invisible smile back.

"So on a more serious note, what are we going to do if Phorcysmon attacks before we find the talisman?" asked Gabumon sadly.

"Let's not worry about that tonight," said Tai, dismissing the question. "We'll just have to work quickly at figuring it out."

"Okay," said Gabumon, lowering his head. Erebmon laid his paw on the lizard digimon's should as he passed him for the door.

"Alright, it's been a long day for everyone, why don't we all head home and get some rest. We have school tomorrow."

"I'm already going to miss class," said Mimi. "I'm not going after missing this much sleep. Don't worry, my teachers understand."

"Sorry Mimi," said Yolei. "Sometimes I forget you are 13 hours behind us."

"Like I'm going to argue an excuse to miss class," said Mimi with a smile. "Staying home to sleep seems like a pretty great day to me."

With a few laughs, everyone exchanged their goodbyes and headed their separate ways home. Tai offered to get Sora and T.K. a ride home since they had left their school things at his apartment.

Kari kept herself close to T.K. the entire trip home. T.K. thought about the things Patamon had said. He might not have been the one to save Kari, but he was the only one who could love her the way he did to help her recover. He was important to her, not because he could protect her from anything, but because he would always be there for her, to love her. That was something no one could do the way he did and that make him feel better.

He was chuckling at something Kari had said as they approached her apartment door when the pair ran into Tai who had stopped on the walkway. "Tai, what they heck…" began T.K. but he was cut short by the sight ahead of them. The Kamiya door was completely missing as was part of the front wall.

Their digimon instantly ran forward, entering the room to check for any enemies before the would allow their partners to join them. "Tai," said Kari quietly, worry lacing her words again. "Mom…should have been home."

With those words, Tai raced forward ignoring the protests of the others. "Mom!" he yelled, hoping to hear anything in response.

"No one is in here," said Biyomon.

"She has to be here!" yelled Tai, panic obvious in his voice.

"Tai?" came a small voice.

"Mom?!" yelled Tai, running toward a closet, one of the two sliding doors remaining on its runners. He pushed the door over, revealing his mostly unharmed mother hiding in the very back of the crowded space. "Mom!" he yelled, moving to help her up. "Are you alright? What happened?"

"I was doing the dishes and the door…it just ripped open. This creature came through the door. It looked like a really sick person. He kept asking me for the Light. Tai, I think he was looking for Kari!"

T.K. pulled the girl closer to him as she began to shake. Phorcysmon could have her over his dead body. "Momma, did he hurt you?"

"No, he pushed me around a little, but most of the damage was done to the apartment. I'm just glad you two and your father weren't home."

"He just left you here?" asked Patamon. T.K. shot him an angry look for his rudeness.

"He put me in the closet. He said…"

"What did he say, Mom?" asked Tai, giving her a hug.

"He said he wasn't here for me and it wasn't my time yet."

Everyone fell silent at her words as the realization hit them. It wasn't just them in this fight anymore. He was going to start targeting their families.

"Tai, we need to get Kari and your mom out of here," said Sora urgently, her voice becoming more worried as Erebmon's fur began to bristle. "We need to grab our things and go."

"No need to be in such a hurry," came a smooth voice from the front door. Erebmon dropped into a defensive position with a growl as Phorcymon appeared in the broken doorway, blocking their exit.

* * *

Ahhhh, that felt good. Just got back from Anime Detour in Minneapolis and I got quite a bit of inspiration there. I'm hoping this is up to everyone's standards since it took me my token 6 months to get it out. Please let me know if you like where the story is heading and if there is any constructive criticism. **Also, if you have any theories, please feel free to PM me. I want to ask that you don't put your theories into the reviews so that everyone can try and figure out the tiny mysteries in the story.**

I also want to respond to some of the reviews I got on the last chapter!

Hedgi – You always seem to make me want to work harder on this story. I am so glad that you love this story and that it makes you feel all of those emotions. I have always loved this story because it brings me back to my second anime love (sailor moon was first ^_^) and I love to make it a little more grown up. Thank you for sticking with me!

pinkkoala213 – Welcome! I am so glad you like it. And I love to hear that it kept you up! It means I am doing my job right! Hope you enjoyed this chapter too!

Soramon – Seriously, between you and Hedgi, I am going to explode with happiness. You always make me feel like I can write anything so I want to thank you for that. I am really looking forward to your theory. No promises I will give you an answer so you can continue to have fun with the story, but it will be a good indication to me on if things are being conveyed to the reader the way I want.

mahwish1 – I'm glad you like it and I just wanted to let you know that I am struggling with it, but the "Just a Kiss" one shot you ordered is in progress. I am probably ¾ of the way done with that one too!


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